List of Olympic mascots

The Olympic mascots are fictional characters who represent the cultural heritage of the location where the Olympic Games are taking place. They are often an animal native to the area or human figures.

One of the first Olympic mascots was created for the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble; a stylized cartoon character on skis named Schuss. The first official Olympic mascot appeared in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, and was a rainbow-colored Dachshund dog named Waldi.

Since the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the Olympic and Paralympic mascots have always been presented together, which was first done in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. The Youth Olympic Games, which are run by the International Olympic Committee, have had mascots as well.

Olympic mascots

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

| 1932 Summer Olympics || Los Angeles

! scope="row" | Smoky

| Dog || || The only Olympic mascot to be a real live animal. (unofficial) ||120px ||

| 1964 Summer Olympics || Tokyo

! scope="row" | Kapa

| Kappa || Unknown || A creature from Japanese mythology. (unofficial) || 120px ||

| 1968 Winter Olympics || Grenoble

! scope="row" | Schuss

| Skier || Aline Lafargue || An abstract figure with the colors of the flag of France. The name derives from the term schussboom, referring to a straight downhill run at high speeds.|| ||

| 1968 Summer Olympics || Mexico City

! scope="row" | Chac Mool

| Jaguar|| Unknown|| A pink chacmool jaguar. (unofficial) || ||

| 1972 Winter Olympics || Sapporo

! scope="row" | Takuchan

| Asian black bear || Seiko design department || Designed and marketed by sponsors of the Games. (unofficial) || ||

| 1972 Summer Olympics || Munich

! scope="row" | Waldi

| Dachshund dog || Elena Winschermann || A popular breed in Bavaria, it represented the attributes required for athletes – resistance, tenacity and agility. ||120px ||

| 1976 Winter Olympics || Innsbruck

! scope="row" | Schneemann and Sonnenweiberl

| Snowman and Sun woman || Walter Pötsch || Schneemann is named after the German word for snowman and wears a red Tyrolean hat, a traditional hat from the Alps. || ||

| 1976 Summer Olympics || Montreal

! scope="row" | Amik

| Beaver ||Yvon Laroche, Pierre-Yves Pelletier, Guy St-Arnaud and George Huel || Beavers are one of the national symbols of Canada. || ||

| 1992 Winter Olympics || Albertville

! scope="row" | Magique

| Man-star/snow imp || Philippe Mairesse || The colors of the mascot are based on those of the French flag. Magique replaced the original mascot of the 1992 games, a mountain goat, two years before the games began.|| ||

| rowspan=3 | 2002 Winter Olympics || rowspan=3 | Salt Lake City

! scope="row" | Powder (a.k.a. Swifter)

| Snowshoe hare || rowspan=3 | Steve Small, Landor Associates and Publicis|| rowspan="3" | 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 Native Americans in the United States, 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.|| rowspan="3" | 120px||rowspan=3 |

! scope="row" | Copper (a.k.a. Higher)

| Coyote

! scope="row" | Coal (a.k.a. Stronger)

| American black bear

| 2004 Summer Olympics || Athens

! scope="row" | Athena and Phevos (Αθηνά και Φοίβος)

| Daidala || Spyros Gogos || Two modern children resembling ancient Greek daidala sculptures. || ||

| 2012 Summer Olympics || London

! scope="row" | Wenlock

| A drop of steel with a camera for an eye.||Iris || Named after the village of Much Wenlock in Shropshire, which hosted the Wenlock Olympian Games, a precursor to the modern Olympic Games in the 19th century. It represents the UK's start of the Industrial Revolution. || 120px

| rowspan=2 | 2014 Winter Olympics || rowspan=2 | Sochi

! scope="row" | Leopard, Zaika and Bely Mishka (Леопард, Зайка, Белый Мишка)

| Hare, Snow Leopard and Polar Bear

| Silvia Petrova, Vadim Pak, Oleg Serdechny

| The first Olympic mascots decided by popular vote.

| 120px

| 2016 Summer Olympics || Rio de Janeiro

! scope="row" | 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. ||120px

| 2026 Winter Olympics || Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo

! scope="row" | Tina

| Stoat || Students of the Istituto Comprensivo of Taverna in Calabria || Tina's name is derived from Cortina d'Ampezzo, one of the two host cities. ||120px

Youth Olympic mascots

{| class="wikitable sortable"

| 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. || 120px

| 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 || 120px

| 2014 Summer Youth Olympics || Nanjing || Lele(砳砳) || Yuhua Stone || Cui Xinye || 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. || 120px

| 2016 Winter Youth Olympics || Lillehammer || Sjogg || Lynx || Line Ansethmoen || The name "Sjogg" translates to "Snow" in the Gudbrandsdalsmål dialects || 120px

| 2018 Summer Youth Olympics || Buenos Aires || Pandi || Jaguar || Human Full Agency ||Pandi's name is a combination of the scientific name of the jaguar (Panthera onca) and the relationship of the mascot with the "digital world". || 120px

| 2020 Winter Youth Olympics || Lausanne || Yodli || A cow, Saint Bernard dog and a goat hybrid. || ERACOM || 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. It was named after yodeling. || 120px

| 2024 Winter Youth Olympics || Gangwon Province || Moongcho || Snowball || Soo-Yeon Park || The character was conceived as a snowball created in a snowball fight between Soohorang and Bandabi.|| 120px

| 2026 Summer Youth Olympics || Dakar || Ayo || Lion || Ndeye Mariama Diop || A young lion wearing a tingandé, a traditional hat worn by the Fula people. His name means "joy" in Yoruba. || 120px ||

References

External links

Official site of the Olympic Movement – Images and information on every game since 1896
OlympicHistory.info: Mascots
Canadian Olympic Mascots 1976–2010
Olympic Marketing Fact File 2024 Edition

Olympic mascots

Youth Olympic mascots

See also

References

External links