Olympic mascot Facts for Kids

Olympic mascots are fun, fictional characters that represent the spirit of the Olympics and Paralympic Games. They are often animals or human-like figures that show off the culture of the place where the Games are held. Mascots help make the Olympics exciting for younger fans.

The Olympic Games have had mascots since the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The first really famous Summer Olympics mascot was Misha the bear at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Since the 2010 Vancouver Games, the Olympic and Paralympic mascots have been shown together.

History of Olympic Mascots
Olympic Mascots Through the Years
Youth Olympic Mascots
Images for kids
See also

History of Olympic Mascots

The very first Olympic mascot appeared at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France. It was called "Schuss," a small skier designed in blue, red, and white. However, the first official Olympic mascot arrived at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. This was Waldi, a Dachshund dog. Dachshunds are popular in Bavaria, Germany, and Waldi showed qualities like strength, determination, and quickness, which are important for athletes. Waldi even had three colors from the Olympic flag: blue, yellow, and green.

The success of these early mascots helped them become a big part of the Olympic Games. Mascots are very popular. Even though they carry important messages, they are designed simply with bright, happy colors to fit the exciting atmosphere of the Olympics.

Olympic Mascots Through the Years

Games	City	Mascot	Character	Designer	What it Represented
1932 Summer Olympics	Los Angeles	Smoky	Scottish terrier	Born in the Olympic Village	An early, unofficial mascot.
1968 Winter Olympics	Grenoble	Schuss	Stylized skier	Aline Lafargue	An unofficial mascot, designed in the colors of France.
1968 Summer Olympics	Mexico City	Red Jaguar			An unofficial mascot.
1972 Summer Olympics	Munich	Waldi	Dachshund dog	Otl Aicher	A popular dog breed in Bavaria, showing athlete qualities like strength and agility.
1976 Winter Olympics	Innsbruck	Schneemann	Snowman	Walter Pötsch	Represented 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 looked like the hat and goggles athletes wear. Named after the Adirondack Mountains.
1980 Summer Olympics	Moscow	Misha	Bear cub	Victor Chizhikov	The bear was a national symbol of the Soviet Union.
1984 Winter Olympics	Sarajevo	Vučko	Little wolf	Joze Trobec	Symbolized friendship between humans and animals. It helped change how people saw wolves.
1984 Summer Olympics	Los Angeles	Sam	Bald eagle	Robert Moore (from The Walt Disney Company)	The national symbol of the United States.
1988 Winter Olympics	Calgary	Hidy and Howdy	Two polar bears	Sheila Scott	Both represented the friendly spirit of Western Canada.
1988 Summer Olympics	Seoul	Hodori	Tiger cub	Hyun Kim	Tigers are 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	Designed in a modern, cubist art style.
1994 Winter Olympics	Lillehammer	Håkon and Kristin	Two Norwegian children		They wore Viking clothes. They were the first mascots to be human figures.
1996 Summer Olympics	Atlanta	Izzy	An abstract figure (an alien)	John Ryan	The first mascot created using computer graphics.
1998 Winter Olympics	Nagano	The Snowlets: Sukki, Nokki, Lekki and Tsukki	Four owls		Represented the four main islands of Japan. Their names combine to sound like "Snowlets."
2000 Summer Olympics	Sydney	Olly (from "Olympic")	Kookaburra	Jozef Szekeres, Matthew Hatton	Represented the generous Olympic spirit.
		Syd (from "Sydney")	Platypus		Represented the environment and energy of Australia.
		Millie (from "Millennium")	Echidna		Represented the new Millennium. All three are common Australian wild animals.
2002 Winter Olympics	Salt Lake City	Powder (also called Swifter)	Snowshoe hare	Steve Small, Landor Associates and Publicis	These three mascots are native animals of Utah. They are named after important natural resources. They are also characters in local American Indian legends.
		Copper (also called Higher)	Coyote
		Coal (also called Stronger)	American black bear
2004 Summer Olympics	Athens	Athena and Phevos	Brother and sister	Spyros Gogos	Two modern children designed to look like ancient Greek dolls.
2006 Winter Olympics	Turin	Neve and Gliz	A human-like snowball and ice cube	Pedro Albuquerque	Neve ("Snow" in Italian) was a female snowball representing softness and friendship. Gliz ("Ice" in Italian) was a male ice cube representing enthusiasm and joy.
2008 Summer Olympics	Beijing	The Fuwa: Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, Nini	Koi, giant panda, Olympic Flame, Tibetan antelope, swallow	Han Meilin	Their five names together mean "Beijing welcomes you" in Chinese. Each represented an Olympic ring and a Feng Shui element.
2010 Winter Olympics	Vancouver	Miga	Mythical sea bear	Meomi Design (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 special "sidekick".
2012 Summer Olympics	London	Wenlock	A drop of steel with a camera for an eye.	Iris	Named after Much Wenlock, a village that hosted early Olympic-style games. It represented the UK's Industrial Revolution.
2014 Winter Olympics	Sochi	Bely Mishka (Polar Bear), Snow Leopard (leopard), Zaika (the dore hare)		Silvia Petrova, Vadim Pak, Oleg Serdechny	These were the first mascots chosen by a public vote.
2016 Summer Olympics	Rio de Janeiro	Vinicius	A mix of all Brazilian mammals	Luciana Eguti and Paulo Muppet	Inspired by Brazilian animals. Named after the poet Vinicius de Moraes by popular vote.
2018 Winter Olympics	Pyeongchang	Soohorang	A white tiger	MASS C&G	The tiger is important in Korean stories and symbolizes trust, strength, and protection.
2020 Summer Olympics	Tokyo	Miraitowa	A robot with blue checkered patterns	Ryo Taniguchi	A superhero-like character showing both old traditions and new ideas. Schoolchildren and artists in Japan helped choose this mascot.
2022 Winter Olympics	Beijing	Bing Dwen Dwen	A giant panda	Cao Xue	This panda wears an ice suit and loves winter sports. It shares the true spirit of the Olympics with everyone.

Youth Olympic Mascots

Games	City	Mascot	Character	Designer	What it Represented
2010 Summer Youth Olympics	Singapore	Lyo and Merly	Red male lion (Lyo), Blue female merlion (Merly)	Cubix International	Lyo and Merly represent Singapore, known as the "Lion City," and its national symbol, the Merlion.
2012 Winter Youth Olympics	Innsbruck	Yoggl	Alpine Chamois	Florencia Demaría and Luis Andrés Abbiati of Argentina	Yoggl showed the character of the host city, Innsbruck.
2014 Summer Youth Olympics	Nanjing	Lele (mascot)(砳砳)	Rainflower Stone/Yuhua Stone (雨花石)		LeLe was inspired by a special "Rain-Flower Pebble" stone found in Nanjing. Its design used the stone's shape and colors. "Lele" sounds like stones hitting each other and also means happiness in Chinese.
2016 Winter Youth Olympics	Lillehammer	Sjogg	Lynx	Line Ansethmoen
2018 Summer Youth Olympics	Buenos Aires	Pandi	Jaguar	Human Full Agency	Pandi is a young jaguar. Its name combines the jaguar's scientific name (Panthera onca) with a nod to the "digital world."
2020 Winter Youth Olympics	Lausanne	Yodli	A cow, Saint Bernard dog and a goat hybrid.	ERACOM	Yodli's name came from the yodeling singing style popular in Switzerland. Yodli is a mix of a cow, goat, and Saint Bernard dog, all common in the Swiss mountains.