The Top 10 Coolest Olympic Mascots
by Joshua Khan
Aside from representing a team or an organization, a mascot’s main purpose is to entertain sports fans. The Olympic Games has tried to grasp this concept, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out.
For example, look at the mascots for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. All five of them represent something important, but their image is kind of scary and a bit weird. Involving heritage in the process of creating a mascot is vital, but sometimes it takes away from the design aspect. But it is safe to say, there are some cool mascots from past Olympic Games.
The following list highlights 10 mascots; their ranking is determined by design, originality and a “cool factor”. Many of these mascots can be cool in their own sense, but which one will prevail at the top as the “Coolest Olympic Mascot”?
Cool Olympic Mascot #10. Howdy and Hidi
The polar bear siblings were the faces of the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. With both names expressing a feeling of welcome and brotherhood, they symbolized the warmth of Canadian hospitality.
Cool Olympic Mascot #9. Hodori
Tigers and marketing seem to go hand in hand and the animal was perfect for the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics. Hodori was designed as good-natured tiger and portrayed the friendly and hospitable traditions of the Koreans.
Cool Olympic Mascot #8. Sam
With the Summer Olympics being held in Los Angeles in 1984, Walt Disney decided to design a mascot. His creation: Sam, a cartoon eagle who’s not afraid of showing his true colours.
Cool Olympic Mascot #7. Vuchko
Despite looking a bit stubborn, Vuchko was a cheerful wolf who was the face of the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics. The mascot helped to change the frightening image of the animal which was present in the region.
Cool Olympic Mascot #6. Waldi
The colourful dachshund was claimed to be the first official Olympic mascot at the 1972 Summer Games in Munich. Along with representing athletic qualities such as resistance, tenacity and agility, Waldi’s colours also symbolized the joy of the international event.
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by Anonymous
Izzy your BEST mascot?
Are you farking kidding? Izzy was the biggest embarassment of the 1996 Olympics... just slightly ahead of the Moroccan bazarre that downtown turned into with countless street vendors trying to charge people $5 for a bottle of water (it was down to $1 by the second week) and $30 for a crappy t-shirt.
by Anonymous
S
What about Springy from the Springfield Olympics?
by Anonymous
Wow
That was dumb. Sam the Eagle deserves to be #1. Not only was he cool looking, but he's a rep of the USA! Where's your freakin' patriotism?? With Izzy? This was 2 minutes I'll never get back.
by Anonymous
Jager
Izzy is a cop-out. Very lame!!
by Anonymous
In agreement with everyone
In agreement with everyone else...Izzy should not even be in the top 10, let alone the #1 spot.
by Anonymous
spermy the mascot.
i agree, izzy should be number one. with all the underage sex and pregnancy in the country, we should have a blue ring laden sperm as a mascot!! give jimmy-hats to the athletes!
by Anonymous
Uh
You, Norton, are a mentalcase.
by Anonymous
You forgot the best one
Fatso, the Fat arsed Wombat, the unofficial mascot for the Sydney Olympics. Every Aussie was cheering for Fatso. He was so popular they ended up building a statue of him at Homebush.
by Anonymous
I cringe every time I read
I cringe every time I read Joshua Khan's articles.. Am I the only one?
by Anonymous
no springy the springfield
no springy the springfield spring?!
by Anonymous
Everyone has a different
Everyone has a different taste and opinion. Mine would be to disagree with the author's diss on the Beijing mascots. While they may not be the best design ever, they are way cooler than Howdy, Hidi, and definitely Izzy.
How did Waldi get on the list anyway? It's like one of those $4 beanie babies on the CVS racks by the cashier.
by Anonymous
izzy tops all mascots simply
izzy tops all mascots simply because he had his own Sonic-esque video game for Sega Genesis back in '96. Look it up. Even the people that designed the game didnt know what he was.
by Anonymous
Like him or not I think Izzy
Like him or not I think Izzy is probably the most memorable mascot that any olympic committee has ever come up with. That's got to be worth something.
by Anonymous
Lock
That hare/coyote/bear combo kicks ass. The eagle is stupid, the only thing stupider is the mindless patriotism that created it.
by Anonymous
How about Fuwa?
Dont you think that Beijing Fuwa is the loveliest and most meaningful one?
by Anonymous
Misha, anyone?
I am appaled to see that this list has left out Misha, the Moscow Olympics bear, the one who cried (through choreographed cards in the crowd) at the end of the games. Unforgettable! Obviously, since the USA boycotted the games that year, it could only follow that an American site would ignore it...
by Anonymous
So many bad picks
I thought for sure this item was an excuse to rip on the overwhelming worst mascot of all time "Izzy". Imagine my horror then when Izzy came out #1. Based on some of the other lame picks, I'm hoping this list was tongue in cheek. I'll take the Chinese power-puff mascots over this list any day.
by Anonymous
power puff
I take back what I said, the power puffs are way cooler. These look more like megaman baddies.
by Anonymous
Khaaaaaaan!
You're an idiot.
by Anonymous
Hello
I like the chinese olympic dolls, they're cool
by Anonymous
the aussie
i htink that the australia's mascot shoul be the number one but i do not know how to place a vote so that they can be number 1. so if you know how to vote can you get back to me
by Anonymous
i think that ollie syd and
i think that ollie syd and millie should be number 1
by Anonymous
hi
they are madd arent they
jessie mcpherson from shepparton australia
by Anonymous
aussie aussie aussie oi oi oi
australians rule
by Anonymous
ello
AUSTRALIA RULE THE WORLD FOR EVER
by Anonymous
wow
The Beijing mascots are better than all of em!
"scary and a bit weird"?
um you can't say that for izzy?
that guy looks like a freak on cocaine
by Anonymous
NO WAY! Not top ten material!
Sam should never be considered for the top ten! He was mearly a capitalistic middle finger to the Russians, If I were the Russians I would have boycotted it as well! The fine line of Patriotism and international snobery was crossed. Thankfully Sam is where he belongs now, in the annals of time at the LA dump.
by Anonymous
what about Torchy the
what about Torchy the Flamer, from when the Olympics were in San Francisco?
by Anonymous
WTF? that thing instead of
WTF? that thing instead of Misha? You got to be fucking kidding.
by Anonymous
lazzy was not
Lazzy was not the biggest embarassment of the 1996