The designer of a logo for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics has said he asked organizers to yank the scandal-hit emblem due to unbearable harassment he faced in the wake of plagiarism allegations.

Kenjiro Sano said online taunts and what he claimed were inaccurate media reports had pushed him to "the limit of what humans can bear".

His comments late on Tuesday came as Tokyo's Olympics organizers scrapped the event's logo in the latest mishap for the Games, after a costs furor forced plans for a $2 billion new national stadium to be torn up.