COPENHAGEN — Tokyo made its case to host the 2016 Olympics as the best bid for athletes.

Tokyo’s bid team told International Olympic Committee members Friday that their project was created by Olympians for Olympians, and would happen in the world’s most exciting city.
“As Olympians and Paralympians, we know the games should be held in the city that offers the best stage for athletes,” said Mikako Kotani, Tokyo 2016 executive board member and a bronze medalist in synchronized swimming at the 1988 Seoul Games.
“That is our Tokyo,” Kotani said, promising attention to athletes’ needs to help them reach peak performances.
The Tokyo bid team was joined on the stage by Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who flew into Copenhagen late Thursday to be part of the 45-minute presentation.
Hatoyama took office last month, and picked up on the bid’s long-standing themes of safety and green credentials.
“Tokyo is indeed well positioned to serve as a future model for public safety and environmental sustainability,” Hatoyama said. “In hosting the 2016 Games, Tokyo will show the world how a major metropolis shall flourish without detriment to the environment.”
Hatoyama said his country’s people yearned for Tokyo to be at the heart of the enthusiasm and hope the Olympics represented.
Tokyo is thought to be an outsider in the four-city race and was second to make its case. Rio and Madrid present later Friday. Tokyo followed Chicago’s presentation keyed by impassioned speeches from President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.
Despite rating the highest marks when the IOC first evaluated the four cities last year, Tokyo has struggled to generate much buzz to back up its technical excellence.
Bid leaders focused on organizing an Olympics in a compact location, using many venues from Tokyo’s hosting of the 1964 Games. They promised that 70 percent of athletes would be housed 10 minutes from their venues.
Tokyo also offered financial security with a reserve fund of $4 billion (euro2.75 billion) guaranteed by all levels of government.
IOC members must be persuaded to go back to Asia soon after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and to send the Olympics back to Tokyo.
Chicago, Madrid and Rio are all seeking their first Olympics.