The Tokyo Games Twitter account shared an image of the mascots, who were selected by 205,000 elementary school students in Japan.
We already have our first glimpse at the mascots for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games.
The Tokyo Games Twitter account shared an image of the mascots, who were selected by 205,000 elementary school students in Japan. The winning mascot received nearly 110,000 votes after competing against two other mascots for the top prize.
“The role of the mascots will include communicating the Olympic and Paralympic spirit, and contributing to the excitement of the Games during the opening and closing ceremonies, at Games venues and around town. The mascots will take their place in the illustrious history of Olympic and Paralympic Games mascots — just thinking about it makes us all excited!” the mascot’s website reads.
The Olympics’ official mascot appears blue and white with a checkered outfit.
“The mascot has a strong sense of justice and is very athletic,” the biographical note of the mascot reads, according to The Guardian.
Meanwhile, a similar illustration of a character in a pink-checkered outfit will be the mascot for the Paralympics.
“It’s usually calm, however, it gets very powerful when needed,” the organizer said, according to AFP.
Ryo Taniguchi, who designed the mascot options, told The Guardian he couldn’t believe that these were chosen.
“I’m just so spaced out at the moment,” he said. “I just want to tell my beloved wife that I’ve been chosen.”
If you think these illustrations look like Pokemon, you’re not alone, according to Kotaku, a video games website. The creatures do indeed look like Pocket Monsters.
Social media did not let that fact go unnoticed.
The mascots will be named later this year, according to CNN.
The Tokyo Olympics begin on July 24,2020, and will end on Aug. 9,2020.
The Paralympics will occur between Aug. 25,2020 and Sept. 6,2020.
