Since the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France the Olympic Games have a mascot, usually an animal native to the area or occasionally human figures representing the cultural heritage. The first major mascot in the Olympic Games was Misha in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Misha was used extensively during the opening and closing ceremonies, had a TV animated cartoon and appeared on several merchandise products, now things commonly practiced not only in the Olympic Games but also other competitions such as the FIFA World Cup. Nowdays, most of the merchandise targeted at younger consumers give more focus on the mascots, rather than the Olympic flag or organization logos.

List of mascots

• 1968 Winter Olympics, Grenoble
  • Shuss, a stylized skier
• 1972 Summer Olympics, Munich
  • Waldi, a dachshund dog, popular in Bavaria, which represent the attributes required for athletes - Resistance, Tenacity and Agility.
• 1976 Summer Olympics, Montréal
  • Amik, a beaver, one of the national symbols of Canada
• 1976 Winter Olympics, Innsbruck
  • Schneemandl, a snowman representing the Games of Simplicity
• 1980 Summer Olympics, Moscow
  • Misha, a bear, designed by children's books illustrator Victor Chizhikov
• 1980 Winter Olympics, Lake Placid
  • Roni the raccoon, a raccoon whose face design resembles the hat and goggles used by competitors
• 1984 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles
  • Sam the Eagle, a bald eagle, symbol of the United States, designed by Robert Moore and The Walt Disney Company
• 1984 Winter Olympics, Sarajevo
  • Vuchko, a wolf, symbolizing the desire of humans to befriend animals. According to the IOC, it helped change the common preception in the region of wolves as frightening and blood-thirsty.
• 1988 Summer Olympics, Seoul
  • Hodori and Hosuni, two tigers (Hodori is a male cub, Hosuni female), common part in Korean legends.
• 1988 Winter Olympics, Calgary
  • Howdy and Hidy, "The welcome bears", two polar bears representing Western Canadian hospitality. The bear siblings were the first dual mascots in the Olympic Games. The Calgary Zoo sponsored a contest to name the bears. Among the nearly 7,000 entries submitted, the names "Hidy" and "Howdy" were eventually chosen.
• 1992 Summer Olympics, Barcelona
  • Cobi , a dog designed by Javier Mariscal
• 1992 Winter Olympics, Albertville
  • Magique, a man-star
• 1994 Winter Olympics, Lillehammer
  • Haakon and Kristin, two Norwegian children dressed in traditional clothes
• 1996 Summer Olympics, Atlanta
  • Izzy, an abstract figure whose name was changed from Whatizit (i.e. What is it ?) Izzy proved to be a very unpopular mascot. Busch Gardens, a theme park in Williamsburg, Virginia, U.S., named a new Wild Mouse roller coaster after the mascot, but the name was changed within the year.
• 1998 Winter Olympics, Nagano
  • The Snowlets - Sukki, Nokki, Lekki and Tsukki, four owls, one for each year between Olympic Games. Their names were chosen from public suggestions. The first part of each name can be combined phonetically to create the (arguably nonsensical) phrase "Let's Snow".
• 2000 Summer Olympics, Sydney
  • Olly, a kookaburra representing the Olympic spirit of generosity
  • Syd, a platypus representing the enviroment and the energy of the people of Australia
  • Millie, an echidna representing the millennium
  • Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat, an unofficial mascot, a wombat representing the irreverent Australian sense of humour. Fatso proved more popular than the official mascots — especially in Australia, where it was popularised in television broadcasts by the comedy duo 'Roy and HG'.
• 2002 Winter Olympics, Salt Lake City
  • Powder, a snowshoe hare representing Faster
  • Copper, a coyote representing Higher
  • Coal, a bear representing Stronger
• 2004 Summer Olympics, Athens
  • Athena and Phevos, brother and sister, two modern children resembling ancient Greek dolls.
• 2006 Winter Olympics, Turin
  • Neve, a female ball of snow
  • Gliz, a male block of ice

External link

• Olympic Files - Mascots (in Russian)
• Bear Cub Misha Lover's Association, 1980 Summer Olympics mascot Misha's fan page (in Japanese)