What would the Olympics be without mascots? Probably a little less commercial and certainly a lot less fun.
It's surprising to find out that the first official Olympic mascot was as recent as the 1972 Munich Games. It's been a go since then, with sometimes as many as four mascots for a single Olympics.
But except for a few, how many Olympic mascots do folks really remember? Misha the bear and Sam the eagle are probably the ones that come to mind.
Of course Izzy also comes to mind, but for a different reason -- why such a strange/weird design?
- Schuss -- Unofficial (but first) Olympic mascot is a man on skis
1968 Grenoble - Waldi -- Colorful striped dachshund appeared in many forms
1972 Munich - Amik -- Means beaver
1976 Montreal Summer Games - Schneemann -- Snowman
1976 Innsbruck Winter Games - Misha --Cute bear
- Vigri -- A seal was a less known mascot
1980 Moscow Summer Games - Roni -- Raccoon
1980 Lake Placid Winter Games - Sam the Eagle -- Patriotic dressed eagle
1984 Los Angeles Summer Games - Vucko --the little wolf
1984 Sarajevo Winter Games - Hodori --the Tiger
- Hosuni -- Another mascot (female version), but seldom seen
1988 Seoul Summer Games - Hidy and Howdy -- brother and sister polar bears dressed in cowboy attire
1988 Calgary Winter Games - Cobi -- modernistic looking dog
1992 Barcelona Summer Games - Magique -- snow imp
1992 Albertville Winter Games - Haakon and Kristin -- two dolls depicting children
1994 Lillehammer Winter Games - Izzy -- Abstract figure
1996 Atlanta Summer Games
- Sukki, Nokki, Lekki, and Tsukki --were the names of the four snow owls
1988 Nagano Winter Olympic Games - Ollie, Syd and Millie -- a trio of native Australian animals
2000 Sydney Olympic Summer Games - Powder, Coal and Copper -- a coyote, rabbit and black bear
2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games - Athena and Phevos -- Athena is the protectress of Athens and the goddess of wisdom. Phevos is the Greek god of light and music.
2004 Athens - Neve and Gliz -- a snowball and an ice cube
2006 Torino Winter Olympic Mascots - The Fuwas-- Individually they are Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, and Nini.
2008 Beijing - Miga, Mukmuk Quatchi, and Sumi were inspired by the First Nations creatures. 2010 Vancouver
- Mandeville and WenlockLondon 2012