Mascots of the Summer Games

Waldi (Munich, Germany 1972) - Guten tag! That means "good day" in German. I'm Waldi the Dachshund, mascot of the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. I know I don't look like most dachshunds, but my colors are special. They were the official colors of the Munich Games!"
   
Amik (Montreal, Canada 1976) - My name is Amik, which means beaver in the Algonquin Indian language. I was chosen as the mascot for the 1976 Montreal Games because I represent the friendliness, patience and hard work that helped build Canada. My red sash is the same as the ribbons that were attached to the Olympic medals.
   
Misha (Moscow, USSR 1980) - Hi! I'm Misha the Bear Cub. I was the mascot of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. The people of Moscow chose me because there are alot of nice bears like me in Russia. The best part of my job as mascot was that I got to travel all over the world to spread the word about the Olympic Games. In fact, I even got to travel in space with two cosmonauts.
   
Sam the Eagle (Los Angeles, USA 1984) - Hey there! I'm Sam the Eagle, mascot of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. From my red, white and blue colors, you can see that I'm really proud that the Olympic Games came to the United States. The folks over at the Walt Disney Company designed me. You might have heard of them.
   
Hodori the Tiger Cub (Seoul, Korea 1988) - Grrrr! I'm Hodori mascot of the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. My name means "little tiger." Tigers like me are popular in Korea. We make people laugh. My hat is called a "sangmo" which is a traditional farmer's hat. My hat's streamer is shaped like an "S" to stand for Seoul.
   
Cobi (Barcelona, Spain 1992) - I'm Cobi the mountain sheep dog mascot of the 1992 Barcelona Games. I had lots of fun traveling around the world as Barcelona's ambassador, and I made lots of friends for life. I was really lucky, too! I had my own television series.
   
Izzy (Atlanta, USA 1996) - What is it? Yep, that's what I am! I'm Izzy the Whatizit. I was named by a group of kids from Atlanta. I live in a fantasy world inside the Olympic flame. My biggest dream came true in 1996 when I got to be the mascot for the Olympic Games in Atlanta.
   
Olly, Syd and Millie (Sydney, Australia 2000) - G'day mate! We're Olly, Syd and Millie the mascots for the Olympic Games which will be held in Sydney, Australia in the year 2000. We're all native Australian animals. I'm Syd, a platypus, chosen to represent the world's athletes and our environment. Millie is an echidna, and her job is to keep everyone up to date on the Games. Olly's a kookaburra who represents the spirit of friendship that's part of any Olympic Games.
   

Phevos and Athena are brother and sister, named after two Greek gods. Phevos, the god of light and music, and Athena, goddess of wisdom and patron of the city of Athens.

The design of the mascots is based on dolls, thousands of years old, found at archeological sites in Greece.

   

 

Go to the Winter Mascots

Return to previous section: Section IV - Symbols of the Olympic Games

Go to next section: Section V - Athletes and the Olympic Games

 

Copyright: Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles, January, 1996; November, 1997; February, 1999; April 2001; March 2002.

The images used in AN OLYMPIC PRIMER are the copyrighted property of the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles, Allsport Photography, the International Olympic Committee, the United States Olympic Committee, the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, the Organizing Committee for the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, Nagano 1998, the Sydney Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games and the Salt Lake City Olympic Organizing Committee. Copyrighted images, not belonging to the Amateur Athletic Foundation, are used here under the fair use provision of the Copyright Act or with the permission of the copyright owner.

Individuals may reproduce a single copy of the text for educational purposes only. Any reproduction should cite the Amateur Athletic Foundation as publisher and copyright owner. The sale or commercial use of this work, or any portion thereof, in any format, is prohibited.

For more information on the Olympic Primer, contact the AAF library at library@aafla.org.

Copyright, 1997-2002 Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles. All rights reserved.