Olympic mascot facts for kids

The Olympic mascots are fictional characters, usually an animal native to the area or human figures, who represent the cultural heritage of the place where the Olympic and Paralympic Games are taking place. The mascots are often used to help market the Olympic Games to a younger audience, in particular toddlers and children. Ever since the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, the Olympic Games have always had a mascot. The first major mascot in the Summer Olympic Games was Misha in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Starting with the 2010 Vancouver mascots, the Olympic and Paralympic mascots have been presented together.

History

The first Olympic mascot was born at the Grenoble Olympic Games in 1968. It was named "Schuss" and it was a little man on skis, designed in an abstract form and painted in the colors of France: blue, red and white. However, the first official Olympic mascot appeared in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. It was Waldi, a Dachshund dog, a popular breed in Bavaria and it represented the attributes required for athletes – resistance, tenacity and agility. On it were three of the colors of the Olympic flag (blue, yellow, green).

The success of those first mascots helped the idea of a mascot become a symbol of the Olympic Games and developed into an institution. Mascots are very popular and despite the importance of the message they convey, they are designed in simple manner with bright, happy colors appropriate for the 'festive' atmosphere of the Olympic Games.

Olympic mascots

Games	City	Mascot	Character	Designer	Significance	Image
1932 Summer Olympics	Los Angeles	Smoky	Scottish terrier	Born in the Olympic Village before the Olympics	official
1968 Winter Olympics	Grenoble	Schuss	Stylized skier	Aline Lafargue	(unofficial)
1968 Summer Olympics	Mexico City	Red Jaguar			(unofficial)
1972 Summer Olympics	Munich	Waldi	Dachshund dog	Otl Aicher	A popular breed in Bavaria, it represented the attributes required for athletes – resistance, tenacity and agility.
1976 Winter Olympics	Innsbruck	Schneemann	Snowman	Walter Pötsch	It represents the Games of Simplicity.
1976 Summer Olympics	Montreal	Amik	Beaver	Yvon Laroche, Pierre-Yves Pelletier, Guy St-Arnaud and George Huel	One of the national symbols of Canada.
1980 Winter Olympics	Lake Placid	Roni	Raccoon	Donald Moss	Its face design resembles the hat and goggles used by competitors. Named for the Adirondack mountain range.
1980 Summer Olympics	Moscow	Misha	Bear cub	Victor Chizhikov	The bear was the national symbol of the Soviet Union.
1984 Winter Olympics	Sarajevo	Vučko	Little wolf	Joze Trobec	Symbolizing the desire of humans to befriend animals. According to the IOC, it helped change the common perception in the region of wolves as frightening and blood-thirsty.
1984 Summer Olympics	Los Angeles	Sam	Bald eagle	Robert Moore (from The Walt Disney Company)	The symbol of the United States.
1988 Winter Olympics	Calgary	Hidy and Howdy	Two polar bears	Sheila Scott	Both represent Western Canadian hospitality.
1988 Summer Olympics	Seoul	Hodori	Tiger cub	Hyun Kim	Common in Korean legends.
1992 Winter Olympics	Albertville	Magique	Man-star/snow imp	Philippe Mairesse
1992 Summer Olympics	Barcelona	Cobi	A Catalan sheepdog	Javier Mariscal	Drawn in avant-garde, cubist style
1994 Winter Olympics	Lillehammer	Håkon and Kristin	Two Norwegian children		Both are dressed in Viking clothes. First mascots to be human figures.
1996 Summer Olympics	Atlanta	Izzy	An abstract figure (an alien)	John Ryan	The first computer-generated mascot.
1998 Winter Olympics	Nagano	The Snowlets: Sukki, Nokki, Lekki and Tsukki	Four owls		Representing the four major islands of Japan. The first syllable of each name combines phonetically to create the word "Snowlets".
2000 Summer Olympics	Sydney	Olly (from "Olympic")	Kookaburra	Jozef Szekeres, Matthew Hatton	Representing the Olympic spirit of generosity.
		Syd (from "Sydney")	Platypus		Representing the environment and energy of the people of Australia.
		Millie (from "Millennium")	Echidna		Representing the Millennium. All three mascots are common wild animals found in Australia.
2002 Winter Olympics	Salt Lake City	Powder (a.k.a. Swifter)	Snowshoe hare	Steve Small, Landor Associates and Publicis	All three mascots are indigenous animals of the U.S. state of Utah, and are named after natural resources important to the state's economy. These animals are major characters in the legends of local American Indians, and these legends are reflected in the story of each mascot. To remind them of this heritage, all mascots wear a charm around their neck with a petroglyph image.
		Copper (a.k.a. Higher)	Coyote
		Coal (a.k.a. Stronger)	American black bear
2004 Summer Olympics	Athens	Athena and Phevos	Brother and sister	Spyros Gogos	Two modern children resembling ancient Greek dolls.
2006 Winter Olympics	Turin	Neve and Gliz	A humanized snowball and ice cube	Pedro Albuquerque	"Snow and Ice". Neve ("Snow" in Italian) is a humanized female snowball that wears red and represents "softness, friendship and elegance." Gliz (a shortened form of Ghiaccio, "Ice" in Italian) is a humanized male ice cube who wears blue and represents "enthusiasm and joy."
2008 Summer Olympics	Beijing	The Fuwa: Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, Nini	Koi, giant panda, Olympic Flame, Tibetan antelope, swallow	Han Meilin	The five names form the Chinese phrase "Beijing huan ying ni" (北京欢迎你), which means "Beijing welcomes you". Each representing an Olympic ring and Feng Shui element.
2010 Winter Olympics	Vancouver	Miga	Mythical sea bear	Meomi Design (a group of Vicki Wong and Michael Murphy)	Part orca and part kermode bear
		Quatchi	A sasquatch		From Canadian mythology
		Mukmuk	A Vancouver Island marmot		Not an official mascot, but their designated "sidekick".
2012 Summer Olympics	London	Wenlock	A drop of steel with a camera for an eye.	Iris	Named after the village of Much Wenlock in Shropshire – which hosted a precursor to the modern Olympic Games in the 19th century. It represents the UK's start of the Industrial Revolution.
2014 Winter Olympics	Sochi	Bely Mishka (Polar Bear), Snow Leopard (leopard), Zaika (the dore hare)		Silvia Petrova, Vadim Pak, Oleg Serdechny	First mascots decided by popular vote.
2016 Summer Olympics	Rio de Janeiro	Vinicius	A hybrid animal representing all Brazilian mammals	Luciana Eguti and Paulo Muppet	Inspired by Brazilian fauna. Named after the poet and bossa nova composer Vinicius de Moraes decided by popular vote.
2018 Winter Olympics	Pyeongchang	Soohorang	A white tiger	MASS C&G	A white tiger. The tiger is an animal closely related to Korean mythology, and is a symbol of trust, strength, and protection.
2020 Summer Olympics	Tokyo	Miraitowa	A robot with blue chequered patterns from the official emblem	Ryo Taniguchi	A superhero-inspired character that embodies both old tradition and new innovation. The olympic mascot was chosen from several designs submitted by schoolchildren and illustrators throughout Japan.
2022 Winter Olympics	Beijing	Bing Dwen Dwen	A giant panda.	Cao Xue	With a suit of ice, a heart of gold and a love of all things winter sports, this panda is ready to share the true spirit of the Olympics with the whole world.
2024 Summer Olympics	Paris	Will be unveiled in late 2021 or 2022	TBA	TBA
2026 Winter Olympics	Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo	Will be unveiled in late 2024	TBA	TBA
2028 Summer Olympics	Los Angeles	Will be unveiled in late 2026	TBA	TBA

Youth Olympic mascots

Games	City	Mascot	Character	Designer	Significance	Picture
2010 Summer Youth Olympics	Singapore	Lyo and Merly	Red male lion (Lyo), Blue female merlion (Merly)	Cubix International	The two characters are an allusion to the "Lion City" label of Singapore, and the Merlion, a national symbol of Singapore, respectively.
2012 Winter Youth Olympics	Innsbruck	Yoggl	Alpine Chamois	Florencia Demaría and Luis Andrés Abbiati of Argentina	Yoggl represents the character of the host city of these games
2014 Summer Youth Olympics	Nanjing	Lele (mascot)(砳砳)	Rainflower Stone/Yuhua Stone (雨花石)		LeLe is inspired by a unique natural feature of the host city known as the "Rain-Flower Pebble" (also translated as "Riverstone"). The design of the mascot takes the typical shape and appearance of this stone but in a creative and artistic way, highlighting the colours from the emblem's palette. The word 'lele' represents the sound of stones colliding together and is pronounced like the Chinese word meaning happiness or joy.
2016 Winter Youth Olympics	Lillehammer	Sjogg	Lynx	Line Ansethmoen
2018 Summer Youth Olympics	Buenos Aires	Pandi	Jaguar	Human Full Agency	Pandi is young jaguar. Its name "#Pandi" is a combination of the scientific name of the species (Panthera onca) and the relationship of the mascot with the "digital world".
2020 Winter Youth Olympics	Lausanne	Yodli	A cow, Saint Bernard dog and a goat hybrid.	ERACOM	A yodel singing technique, popular in Switzerland and in areas of France, was the inspiration for the name of the masoct. Yodli is a cross between a cow, goat and the Saint Bernard breed of dog, all of which are commonly found in the Swiss mountains.
2024 Winter Youth Olympics	Gangwon Province	TBA	TBA	TBA
2026 Summer Youth Olympics	Dakar	TBA	TBA	TBA

Images for kids

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  Some Olympic mascot dolls were displayed in a shopping center in Hong Kong.

See also

In Spanish: Mascota de los Juegos Olímpicos para niños