List of Paralympic mascots
Appearance
Each Paralympic Games have a mascot, usually an animal native to the area or occasionally human figures representing the cultural heritage. Nowadays, most of the merchandise aimed at young people focuses on the mascots, rather than the Paralympic flag or organization logos.
The unnamed mascots of the 1980 Summer Paralympics in Arnhem, The Netherlands are possibly the first Paralympic mascots. But since the Gomdoori in the 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul, South Korea, the Paralympic mascots has been associated with its Olympic counterparts.
List of mascots
Paralympics | City | Mascot | Character | Designer | Significance | Picture |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1980 Summer Paralympics | Arnhem | Noggi and Joggi | a pair of squirrels | Necky Oprinsen | Possibly the first Paralympic mascots when those Games were still called the World Disabled Games. | |
1984 Summer Paralympics | New York/Stoke Mandeville | Dan D. Lion | a lion who wore running shoes and a jogging outfit. | Maryanne McGrath Higgins | The name was chosen following a vote by students at a school for students with severe physical impairments.[1] | |
1988 Summer Paralympics | Seoul | the "Gomdoori" | two Asian black bears | Lee Yun Soo | The Gomdoori (Korean for "teddy bears") were the Paralympic mascots for Seoul 1988. The bears are tied together to symbolize co-operation.[2] | ![]() |
1992 Winter Paralympics | Albertville | Alpy | a mountain on a mono-ski | Vincent Thiebaut | Represented the summit of the Grande Motte mountain in Tignes. Colors were white green and blue, to represent nature and the lake. | |
1992 Summer Paralympics | Barcelona | Petra | a stylized armless girl | Javier Mariscal | Depicted as an honest, diplomatic, energetic and brave girl. She has no arms, which symbolizes that she does not possess any weapons, and represents peace and harmony. | |
1994 Winter Paralympics | Lillehammer | Sondre | troll, with an amputation | Tor Lindrupsen | The name was chosen in a competition and derives from the great skiing pioneer Sondre Nordheim. | |
1996 Summer Paralympics | Atlanta | Blaze | a colourful phoenix | Trevor Irvin | The phoenix is the symbol of the city of Atlanta. | |
1998 Winter Paralympics | Nagano | Parabbit | a white rabbit (1 red & 1 green ear)[3] | A competition was held among students to find a name for the 1998 Winter Paralympic mascot, and the designation “Parabbit” was chosen from among 3,408 different entries. | ||
2000 Summer Paralympics | Sydney | Lizzie | frill-necked lizard | Her frill was shaped like the combined islands of Australia and Tasmania | ||
2002 Winter Paralympics | Salt Lake City | Otto | otter | The otter was chosen because of its quickness and liveliness.[4] | ||
2004 Summer Paralympics | Athens | Proteas | colourfully-striped seahorse | Spyros Gogos | Named after the mythologic sea-god or god of rivers and oceanic bodies of water, Proteus From the legend comes the name, after this feature of Proteus comes the adjective protean, with the general meaning of "versatile", "mutable", "capable of assuming many forms". "Protean" has positive connotations of flexibility, versatility and adaptability. | |
2006 Winter Paralympics | Turin | Aster | humanized snowflake | Pedro Albuquerque | Aster the snowflake represents the uniqueness of each participating athlete.[5] | |
2008 Summer Paralympics | Beijing | Fu Niu Lele | multi-coloured cow | Wu GuanYing | Represents a harmonious co-existence between mankind and nature, it represents athletes with a disability striving to make progress, and it represents the Beijing Paralympics Games' concept of "Transcendence, Equality and Integration." | ![]() |
2010 Winter Paralympics | Vancouver | Sumi | mythical creature | Meomi Design (a group of Vicki Wong and Michael Murphy) |
With wings of a Thunderbird, legs of an American black bear, and a hat of a killer whale in an artistic style of Haida people. Part of Canadian legends. | |
Mukmuk | Vancouver Island marmot | Not an official mascot, but the designated "sidekick". | ||||
2012 Summer Paralympics | London | Mandeville[6] | drop of steel, painted blue by the rainbow | Iris[7] | Named after the birthplace of the Paralympic Games, Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire. | ![]() |
2014 Winter Paralympics | Sochi | 2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games mascots | ray of light and snowflake | Natalia Balashova and Anna Zhilinsky | Ray of Light came from a different planet that was perpetually hot, while Snowflake hailed from a planet that was perpetually cold. Together the two mascots invented the sports of ice sledge hockey and wheelchair curling. | File:Paralympics 2014 stamp 30 RUB.jpg |
2016 Summer Paralympics | Rio de Janeiro | Tom | plant made of all Brazilian plants | Luciana Eguti and Paulo Muppet[8] | Inspired by Brazilian flora. Named after the Brazilian musician Tom Jobim decided by popular vote. | ![]() |
2018 Winter Paralympics | Pyeongchang | Bandabi | Asiatic black bear | MASS C&G | The bear is symbolic of strong will and courage. Its name is also formed from two Korean words: bandal (반달) and bi (비), the former meaning "half-moon" to refer to the white crescent on an Asiatic black bear's chest and the latter connoting commemoration to celebrate the games. | ![]() |
2020 Summer Paralympics | Tokyo | Someity | A figure with pink chequered patterns from official emblem and cherry blossom flowers | Ryo Taniguchi[9] | The paralympic mascot was chosen from several designs submitted by schoolchildren throughout Japan. | |
2022 Winter Paralympics | Beijing | Will be unveiled in 2020 | TBA | TBA | ||
2024 Summer Paralympics | Paris | Will be unveiled in 2022 | TBA | TBA | ||
2026 Winter Paralympics | TBA | Will be unveiled in 2024 | TBA | TBA | ||
2028 Summer Paralympics | Los Angeles | Will be unveiled in 2026 | TBA | TBA |
See also
References
- ^ "New York 1984 Paralympic Games – Dan D. Lion". International Paralympic Committee.
- ^ "Seoul 1988 Paralympic Games - Gomdoori". International Paralympic Committee.
- ^ Olympic and Soccer Logos and Mascots, aldaver.com
- ^ "Salt Lake City 2002 Paralympic Winter Games – Otto". International Paralympic Committee.
- ^ "Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games - Aster". International Paralympic Committee.
- ^ Farquhar, Gordon (19 May 2010). "BBC Sport - London 2012 unveils Games mascots Wenlock & Mandeville". BBC Online. BBC Online. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
- ^ "2012 London Olympics Mascots launched to the World". Retrieved October 22, 2015.
- ^ "Meet the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games mascots and help choose their names". Rio 2016. 23 November 2014. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
The mascots were created by Birdo Produções, a São Paulo-based design and animation company
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suggested) (help) - ^ "Tokyo 2020 Unveils Mascots". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 30 April 2018.