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Are London's Wenlock and Mandeville the most bizarre Olympics mascots yet?

Mascots_300 Anyone who thought The Fuwa (aka, "The Friendlies," the official mascots of the 2008 Beijing Olympics) or Izzy (aka, Whatizit from the 1996 Atlanta Games) were bizarre, wait till you get a load of Wenlock and Mandeville.

Those are the names of the wacky new mascots unveiled in London on Wednesday for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games.

The London organizers said the one-eyed creatures -- who kind of look like a cross between Muno from "Yo Gabba Gabba" and a cellphone -- are supposed to help inspire kids to get involved with Olympic sports.

Wenlock is named after Much Wenlock, a town about four miles outside of London that helped inspire the modern Olympics with its own local games. Mandeville is named after Stoke Mandeville, a town about 45 miles from London where the Paralympic movement started.

[Updated 2:20 p.m.: Much Wenlock is actually about 150 miles from London.]

-- Chuck Schilken

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Photo: Wenlock, left, and Mandeville. Credit: Julian Finney / Getty Images.

 
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