Winter Olympic Mascot History

1. Winter Olympic Mascot History Kelsey Harris 2010 Social Studies- Mrs. Carle

2. Schuss1968 - Grenoble Winter GamesSchuss, a cartoon-like character on skis, was the unofficial mascot of the 1968 Winter Games in Grenoble. Since then, every Olympic Games has had a mascot except for the 1972 Winter Games.

3. Schneemann1976 - Innsbruck Winter GamesSchneeman, German for Snowman, was the first official mascot of the Winter Games. He was available as a plush toy and also appeared on pins and other souvenirs.

4. Roni1980 - Lake Placid Winter GamesRocky, a live raccoon, was supposed to be the mascot of the 1980 Winter Olympics, but he died before the Games began. He was replaced by Roni, the first mascot to be shown in several different sporting poses on various products.

5. Vucko1984 - Sarajevo Winter GamesReaders of Yugoslav newspapers were asked to choose the mascot for the 1984 Winter Olympics from a list of six finalists. The winner was Vucko, the little wolf, designed by Joze Trebec. The other finalists were a chipmunk, a lamb, a mountain goat, a porcupine, and a snowball.

6. Hidi and Howdy1988 - Calgary Winter GamesThe first male and female pair of mascots were Hidi and Howdy, brother and sister polar bears designed by Sheila Scott of Great Scott Productions. The names were chosen from nearly 7,000 entries in a contest sponsored by the Calgary Zoo.

7. Magique1992 - Albertville Winter GamesA mountain goat named Chamois was originally going to be the mascot of the Albertville Games, but no one really liked it, so Philippe Mairesse was called in to design something else. He came up with Magique, a snow imp who looks more like a gnome.

8. Haakon & Kristin1994 - Lillehammer Winter GamesThe first humanoid mascots were Haakon and Kristin, doll-children from Norwegian folklore. An interesting twist was that several pairs of real-life portrayed them to publicize the 1994 Winter Olympics before and during the Games.

9. Snow Owls1998 - Nagano Winter GamesAs with Albertville in 1992, the original mascot was fired. It was a weasel named Snowple, who was generally disliked and was therefore replaced by four snow owls, Sukki, Nokki, Lekki, and Tsukki. They weren't much more popular at first, but gained popularity as the Games went on.

10. Hare, Coyote, Bear2002 - Salt Lake City Winter GamesThe three animals symbolizing the 2002 Winter Olympics were chosen from Native American folklore to represent the three elements of the Olympic motto: The snowshoe hare is faster (Citius); the coyote is higher (Altius) because he once climbed a mountaintop and stole fire to warm the earth; the black bear is stronger (Fortius).

11. Neve & Gliz2006 - Turin Winter GamesNeve is a snowball, Gliz an ice cube. They were created by a Portuguese artist, Pedro Albuquerque, who won an international competition conducted by the Turin Organizing Committee.

12. 2010 Winter Games- Vancouver, Canada

13. Miga A young sea bear who lives in the ocean with her family pod, beyond Vancouver Island, near Tofino, British Columbia. Sea bears are part killer whale and part bear. (Miga is part Kermode bear, a rare white bear that only lives in British Columbia.)

14. Quatchi A young sasquatch who comes from the mysterious forests of Canada. Quatchi is shy, but loves to explore new places and meet new friends.

15. SumiIs an animal spirit who lives in the mountains of British Columbia. Like many Canadians, Sumi's background is drawn from many places. He wears the hat of the orca whale, flies with the wings of the mighty thunderbird and runs on the strong furry legs of the black bear.

17. Information Sources: http://www.vancouver2010.com/mascot http://www.hickoksports.com/history/olmascots.shtml