Red for the sun, Japan unveils athlete uniforms for Tokyo Olympics

[January 23, 2020]    TOKYO (Reuters) - The Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) on Thursday unveiled athlete uniforms for the Olympic and Paralympic opening ceremonies this summer, with red pants and culottes representing the sun and white jackets symbolising purity.

Models show off the official uniforms of the Japanese delegation for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics during an unveiling event in Tokyo, Japan in this photo taken by Kyodo January 23, 2020. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS

Tokyo is set to hold the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games this year for the first time in more than half a century, with the opening ceremonies set for July 24 and Aug. 25, respectively.

"Wearing this has made me feel very focused today," swimmer Daiya Seto, who won the bronze medal in the men's 400m individual medley at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016, said at a ceremony to unveil the new uniforms.

Ahead of the 2020 Games, billed as "Reconstruction Olympics", a four-month torch relay will begin in March at J-Village, a soccer training centre in Fukushima that served as a frontline operations base for workers who battled the 2011 nuclear crisis.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Katya Golubkova)

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