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Tokyo 2020 Olympic mascot "Miraitowa", left, and Paralympic mascot "Someity", right, pose with children for photographers during the mascot debut event in Tokyo on Sunday, July 22. The two mascot designs were selected by elementary schoolchildren across Japan. (AP/PTI)[/caption]
Tokyo, July 22 (IANS): The Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee officially presented its Olympic mascots Miraitowa and Someity at a massive event here on Sunday.
The ceremony, which was attended by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike and organising committee president Yoshiro Mori, was held at a popular mall where hundreds of children and spectators had gathered, reports Efe.
The name of the blue-checked Olympic mascot Miraitowa is derived from a combination of the Japanese words for future and eternity and seeks to "promote a future full of eternal hope in the hearts of people all over the world," the committee said.
Someity, the pink-checked Paralympic mascot which owes its name to a type of cherry tree blossom, "exhibits enormous mental and physical strength" and represents paralympic athletes, "who overcome obstacles and redefine the boundaries of what is possible," according to the committee.
Nearly 17,000 elementary schools in Japan (more than 75 percent of the elementary schools in the country) and a number of overseas Japanese schools participated in the selection process and voted for their favourite designs.
The Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held in Tokyo between July 24 and August 9, 2020 and from August 25 to September 6 of the same year, respectively.
