People think the Paris 2024 Olympics mascot looks like something NSFW
The official mascots of Paris 2024 have been revealed ahead of the upcoming event in France, but some people can't help but see one thing when they look at them.
Olympic mascots were first introduced in 1968 with Shuss, a red, white and blue mascot who was depicted on skiis in honour of the sports that take place during the games.
Ever since, the mascots have been depicted as 'fun and festive ambassadors of the Olympic Movement' as the games bring together athletes from across the globe.
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The latest mascots, known as the Olympic Phryge and Paralympic Phryge, were unveiled today (14 November) during a press conference by Paris 2024 president Tony Estanguet along with Michael Jeremiasz, the Beijing 2008 wheelchair tennis men's doubles champion, and Gwladys Epangue, a bronze medallist in taekwondo from Beijing 2008.
The mascots are bright red, triangular-shaped creatures with waving arms and little stick legs emerging from the bottom of their bodies.
One has a prosthetic leg and is waving a French flag in honour of the upcoming games, but rather than feeling excitement about the global event, some people simply can't help but compare the mascots to something a little more x-rated.
If you can't see it for yourself, I'll just get straight to the point. After images of the mascots were shared online, there were numerous responses comparing them to images depicting clitorises.
Sharing an image of the 'structure of the clitoris', one person wrote: "Wokism has won!"
Another replaced the words 'The Phryges' with 'The Clits', while a third wrote: "Uh... it's clitoris mascots, do we agree?!"
To be clear, the mascots are not supposed to be clitorises. They are, in fact, supposed to be the Phrygian cap; a soft, cone-shaped cap which, according to Hat Guide, is 'associated in antiquity with several peoples in Eastern Europe and Anatolia (Turkey)'.
Estanguet explained: "We chose an ideal rather than an animal. We chose the Phrygian cap because it's a very strong symbol for the French Republic.
"For French people, it's a very well-known object that is a symbol of freedom, an object that will represent mascots all across the world. The fact that the Paralympics mascot has a visible disability also sends a strong message: to promote inclusion."
The mascots are not designed to distract people from the games with their questionable looks, but instead to 'show the world that sport can change everything and that it deserves to play a major role in society'.
I'm sure people some people will argue that the mascots do play a major role, but it's not necessarily got anything to do with sports.
Emily Brown