Michelle Obama to urge IOC to pick Chicago for 2016

US President Barack Obama is sending his wife Michelle to Copenhagen next month to urge Olympics organisers to select Chicago to host the 2016 Games.

The White House said Obama informed International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge in midweek he had to stay in the United States to push his campaign for health reform.

But Obama, an enthusiastic supporter of his home town's campaign to stage the Games, promised to keep working to support the bid with his wife and his senior advisor Valerie Jarrett.

Mrs Obama and Jarrett will join US organisers at the IOC meeting in Copenhagen on October 2, when the host of the 2016 Summer Olympics will be selected from the four candidate cities - Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.

"It is with great pride that I will go to Copenhagen to make the case for the United States to host the 2016 Olympics," Michelle Obama said in a statement.

"There is no doubt in my mind that Chicago would offer the world a fantastic setting for these historic games and I hope that the Olympic torch will have the chance to burn brightly in my hometown," she said.

Mrs Obama was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, not far from the suggested locations for the Games.

The White House said Chicago's pledge to encourage the involvement of children in the Olympics through the distribution of over 500,000 tickets to local youth and its commitment to the environment reinforce Mrs Obama's belief the city would be the ideal host for the 2016 Olympics.