IOC chief backs Japan to overcome crisis

TOKYO, July 16 (AFP): IOC president Jacques Rogge on Saturday heaped praise on Japan's track record in hosting major world sports events and said the country would rise again after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

His comments came as Tokyo was to announce its bid for the 2020 Olympic Games as a catalyst for the country's reconstruction after the disaster.

"I appreciate again the great virtues of the Japanese people -- their courage, their sense of duty, their sense of citizenship and moral fortitude," he told a ceremony in the capital marking the 100th anniversary of the Japanese Olympic Committee.

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