One has an athletic¹ figure and a strong sense of justice. The other is a cherry blossom-inspired superhero.

 

 一个体型健壮，且充满正义感，另一个灵感来自樱花，是个超级英雄。
 

 

Meet the new Olympic and Paralympic mascots² that the Tokyo 2020 organisers hope will whip up enthusiasm for the Games – and drive merchandise sales.

 

All up, 2,042 individuals and groups submitted designs that they hoped would capture the public's affection. Experts whittled³ the list down to three design pairs, which were then opened up for voting by millions of school students across Japan.

 

Nearly 600 cheering schoolchildren attended a ceremony in Tokyo's Shinagawa ward⁴ on Wednesday to hear the results of that vote. The winning Olympic and Paralympic mascots have not yet been given names, but they are said to "respect each other" and are "very good friends".

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