The medals designed by Junichi Kawanishi, a representative of SIGNSPLAN and director of the Japan Sign Design Association and Osaka Design Society, were unveiled yesterday to coincide with celebrations exactly one year before the Games begin.

In order to come up with a range of possibilities from which to choose, Tokyo 2020 held a competition open to professional designers and design students which attracted more than 400 entries.

These were subsequently reviewed by members of a selection panel and the winning designs chosen by them.

It is claimed the design of the medals reflects the concept that "in order to achieve glory, athletes have to strive for victory on a daily basis".

The medals are said to resemble rough stones that have been polished and which now shine, with "light" and "brilliance" their overall themes.

"By receiving light from various angles... I thought about the cheers from the public and those thoughts are reflected," Kawanishi was reported as saying by Reuters during a press conference at the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee headquarters.

"Reflection of light reaches various directions so I hope that the reflected light from the medal would reach all directions when it is worn by an athlete.

"That is my intention."

After graduating from Osaka University of Arts, Kawanishi continued drawing and exhibiting paintings.

This was while working as assistant at the space design office of the university’s design department. 

He stopped drawing, however, following the death of his father in the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake and decided to take up design instead.

Kawanishi said he received a call last year to tell him his proposal had been selected.

"As many people applied, I thought there is no way I would be selected," he added.

"Experiencing the Olympic Games is a once in a lifetime experience – I was not born when they had the previous Games in 1964 so I was feeling happy already to experience home Olympics.

"When I received a phone call, I was relaxing at home and had a few drinks. 

"I became sober instantly but... I remember that my heart was beating fast."

As previously announced, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic medals will be manufactured using the precious metal extracted from mobile phones and other small electronic devices donated by the public.