A Look at Terrible Winter Olympic Mascots

From Grenoble 1968’s 'sperm on skis' to Sochi's 'scare bear' – a look at terrible Winter Olympic mascots through the years

• Photographs show Bely Mishka - dubbed the 'nightmare bear' - and his companions are just the latest in a long line of odd mascots
• Strange mascots started in Grenoble, France, in 1968, with the introduction of Schuss - compared to a 'sperm on skis' - as an unofficial mascot

By William Turvill
PUBLISHED: 20:51 GMT, 13 February 2014 | UPDATED: 10:52 GMT, 16 February 2014

 

This year's Winter Olympic mascots may have raised an eyebrow or two when they made their first appearances.
But, as these photographs show, Bely Mishka - dubbed the ‘nightmare bear’ - and his companions are just the latest in a long line of odd mascots to grace the Games.
Mascots open to ridicule have been a tradition of the Winter Olympics since 1968, when the world was introduced to Schuss in Grenoble, France.

These are the mascots - a hare, a bear (dubbed a 'nightmare bear') and a leopard - of the Sochi winter Games

Schuss was the Winter Olympics' first (unofficial) mascot, introduced to the world in Grenoble, France, in 1968

Sold as a memento at the Games, the toy – an unofficial mascot – proved popular despite being likened to a ‘sperm on skis’.
After the success of Schuss, the Olympic organisers agreed that future Games could also have mascots.
Another mascot more than 30 years old – but still remembered – is Roni, the raccoon mascot of the  Lake Placid Winter Olympics of 1980.
Eight years later, Hidy and Howdy the bears graced the Games in Calgary, Canada. If Twitter had been invented 26 years ago, they may well have caused just as much of a commotion as the Sochi bear.

Roni, the raccoon mascot of the Lake Placid Winter Olympics of 1980, is still remembered today

If Twitter had been invented, Hidy and Howdy, of the 1988 Games in Calgary, Canada, may have been open to the same level of ridicule as Bely Mishka, this year's 'scare bear'

A bear also featured as a mascot at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics

Featuring alongside a hare and a coyote, the Salt Lake City bear would have raised fewer eyebrows

Another bear featured as an Olympic mascot at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, United States, but looked ordinary by comparison.
Elsewhere, four years earlier the world was introduced to Sukki, Nokki, Lekki and Tsukki, the Snowlets (or owls) in Nagano, Japan.
And in 1994, children - named Hakon and Kristin – were chosen to be mascots at the Lillehammer Winter Olympics in Norway.

Sukki, Nokki, Lekki and Tsukki the Snowlets (or owls) were the mascots for the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan

Pictured here on a commemorative mug, Hakon and Kristin were chosen to be mascots at the Lillehammer Winter Olympics in Norway

In 2006, when the northern Italian city of Turin hosted the Games, it took the decision to use inanimate objects – a snowball and an ice cube – as mascots.
While at the last Winter Olympics, in Vancouver, Canada, a mythical sea bear, a Sasquatch, an animal guardian spirit and a Vancouver Island Marmot were used.

These characters - a snowball and an ice cube pictured with Jenny Tamas, who was on the German ice hockey team - were the mascots at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, northern Italy

At the last Winter Olympics, in Vancouver, Canada, a mythical sea bear, a Sasquatch, an animal guardian spirit and a Vancouver Island Marmot were used as mascots