Tokyo throws hat into ring for 2016 Olympic Games

SPORTS | Daley considers city 'very formidable'

Tokyo is the first city to officially declare its intentions. Chicago has yet to send a similar letter but intends to do so, a spokesman for the Chicago 2016 group said.

Like Chicago, Tokyo is touting a compact games, with most of its venues in a 6-mile radius.

However, local support is lukewarm: one Tokyo newspaper poll found only 49 percent support an Olympic bid. Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara told Japan Today that his country's "presence on the world stage is overshadowed by the U.S." and hosting an Olympics could help remedy that. Tokyo previously hosted the summer Olympics in 1964.

Robert Livingstone, editor of the Web site www.games bids.com, said if the IOC in July selects Pyeongchang, Korea, as the host of the 2014 Winter Games, Toyko's chances would all but die, given both cities are in Asia. Analyst Ed Hula of aroundtherings.com added that the cost of building a new stadium and Olympic housing in Tokyo could be prohibitively enormous.

July will also be a crucial test for another of Chicago's competitors for the Summer Games. Rio de Janiero will host the Pan Am Games, which is being seen as a test run to show the IOC it can successfully stage large international sporting events, said Livingstone. Daley plans to attend.

Asked Thursday about Tokyo, Daley mentioned other likely competitors Madrid and Prague. "You have to take 'em very serious. . . . This is tough competition," Daley said.