The General Department of Sports and Physical Training held a ceremony in Hanoi on November 19 to announce the award winners of the SEA Games and ASEAN Para Games 2021 logo and mascot design contest.

The official logo and mascot of the 31st SEA Games and 11th ASEAN Para Games.

Deputy Director of the General Department Le Thi Hoang Yen said that after over a year since the launch of the contest, more than 1,460 entries were sent to the organising board, including 910 logo designs and 557 mascot designs.

Accordingly, “Saola”, a work by painter Ngo Xuan Khoi from Hanoi, won the first prize of the mascot design category, and became the official mascot of the 31st SEA Games and 11th ASEAN Para Games.

Explaining his choice of Saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) to create the mascot, Khoi stated that he would like to use the image of a real and unique animal of Vietnam to show the world the special value of Vietnamese nature.

Meanwhile, Hoang Xuan Hieu, a lecturer from the Hue College of Fine Arts, took top honour in the logo design category with a work featuring a hand with fingers of different length and colours that demonstrates the cohesion and solidarity that exist in sports between athletes regardless of their differences.

“My logo idea stems from the image of athletes putting their hand over heart and looking towards the national flag, which shows great national pride,” Hieu said.

The 31st SEA Games are scheduled to take place in Hanoi, Vietnam from the end of November to early December 2021 and will feature some 36 to 40 sports, two-thirds of which will be present at the Olympic Games and Asian Games (ASIAD). This is the second time Vietnam will have hosted the region's biggest sporting event since 2003.

Meanwhile, the 11th ASEAN Para Games are set to take place in late December 2021 with 14 sports. Hanoi and some neighbouring localities will provide venues for the competitions.

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