Organisers of Tokyo 2020 have announced a shortlist for the official nickname for the event's volunteers ©Tokyo 2020

Japanese organisers of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo have announced a shortlist of four nicknames for the event's official volunteers.

Tokyo 2020 organisers have decided on four names from a list of 149 candidates.

The final nominees for Tokyo 2020 have been announced as "Field Cast", "Games Anchor", "Games Force" and "Shining Blue", with these names cleared as potential trademarks.

For the city volunteers the shortlist is "City Cast", "City Anchor", "City Force" and "Shining Blue Tokyo". 

The winning nickname will be decided by a public vote, due to last until January 20.

The decision will then be announced later that month.

Volunteers are an integral part of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, as they were at London 2012, where they were called
Volunteers are an integral part of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, as they were at London 2012, where they were called "Games Makers" and considered one of the most successful aspects of the event ©Getty Images

It was London 2012 that started the trend of giving the volunteers a nickname when they christened them "Games makers". 

Pyeongchang 2018 followed London's lead when they called their volunteers "Passion Crew". 

"I’m looking forward to the selection of a name that everyone can be proud of," Tomoko Hagiwara, a member of Tokyo 2020, said.  

Applications to become a volunteer at Tokyo 2020 opened in September, with organisers looking for 80,000 volunteers to help with day-to-day operations at the Games and 30,000 city volunteers to guide visitors around airports, stations and the Japanese capital. 

Kyodo News recently reported that organisers were struggling to recruit city guides, with only 16,000 applying so far.

The role of Games volunteer is proving popular however, with 50,000 applications for that role.