Tokyo 2020 officially submits bid to IOC

TOKYO (AP) - Tokyo submitted its bid to host the 2020 Olympics on Monday, delivering the file to the International Olympic Committee's headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, two days before a Feb. 15 deadline.

"The Tokyo 2020 Bid Committee, together with the Japanese people, is truly honored and excited to submit our nation's application file for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games,'' Tokyo 2020 President and Japanese Olympic Committee President Tsunekazu Takeda said.

Tokyo bid unsuccessfully for the 2016 Olympics, which were awarded to Rio de Janeiro. Tokyo is now competing with Rome, Madrid, Istanbul, Doha, Qatar and Baku, Azerbaijan.

Tokyo is promising a compact bid with all facilities within an 8-kilometer radius. Forty percent will be existing venues that will be renovated.

"We have learned valuable lessons from our previous bid, which are evident in these improved technical plans,'' Takeda said.

Tokyo is promoting its 2020 bid as a symbol of Japan's recovery from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that left over 15,000 people dead or missing on Japan's northeast coast.

The IOC will study the bid files and decide in May whether to retain all the candidates or pare the list. The IOC will select the 2020 host city at a meeting in Buenos Aires in September 2013.