The designs have been kept tightly under wraps by London 2012 but will be revealed first on The One Show on BBC One tonight at 7pm.

But Coe has revealed that the Olympics and Paralympics will each have its own mascot.

The mascots will form a key part of 2012's marketing and merchandising and they will be targetted mainly at the younger market.

Coe said: "It should be - and ours is - aimed at children.

"We want them to try to engage and re-connect young children with sport and that should be fun.

"And anchoring it in our extraordinary Olympic and Paralympic history."

The desire for the mascots to appeal to children is underlined by the decision for their story to be penned by Mopurgo, the author of the Gentle Giant.

Coe said: "It's a lovely story.

"They are crafted from two drops of steel from a girder that is currently in the Olympic Stadium.

"It's really about making sure people recognise that the whole of this country is delivering the Games.

"There are two mascots - one for the Olympics and one for the Paralympics."

The first official mascot - 'Waldi', a colourful striped dachshund - appeared for the 1972 Summer Games in Munich.

London 2012 organiser will be keen to avoid the controversy which surrounded the unveiling of the Games logo in 2007.

There was widespread criticism of the emblem, which was designed by the Wolff Olins agency and cost £400,000 ($722,000).
 
A segment of animated footage to promote the logo was also claimed to trigger seizures in a small number of people, prompting it to be removed from the Locog website.

London 2012 refused to bow to pressure, saying that the logo, which comes in pink, blue, green and orange, was modern, bold and flexible.

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