Faces of the Games

A look at Winter Olympic mascots through the years

One was decided by a newspaper poll, one by a public vote and some others through a contest. The most recent was chosen from thousands of global entries of illustrations by children. Over the years, the mascots for the Winter Olympics have been abstract forms, animals and humans. And they have remained in the public memory. Bing Dwen Dwen, the cheerful panda, is the official mascot for the 2022 Beijing Olympics, but there were plenty before.

Shuss, a man on skis in abstract form, was the first official mascot for a Winter Olympics. He was the mascot for the 1968 Grenoble Games, made in the colors of France: blue, red and white.

Norwegian children Haakon and Kristin, dressed in Viking outfits, were the first mascots in human form. The 1994 Lillehammer mascots are said to have been inspired by historical figures Hakon IV Hakonson, the 13th century king of Norway, and his aunt Princess Kristin.

Schneemandl is said to have been a commercial success and inspired versions of living mascots. Austrian for “Snowman,” Schneemandl was the mascot for the 1976 Innsbruck Games.

A wolf isn’t an expected character for a mascot, but the 1984 Sarajevo Games transformed an animal known to be feared into a friendly image. In Yugoslavian fables, the wolf symbolizes winter. Vucko the wolf was chosen through a contest with hundreds of participants.

Neve and Gliz were the mascots for the 2006 Turin Olympics. Neve is a snowball and Gliz an ice cube.

In Beijing, Bing Dwen Dwen is everywhere — on buses, at street corners and hanging from the rafters at some official Olympic venues. He is the face that those in a strict Olympic bubble at the Beijing Games will take back with them.

(File Photo/AP/Robert F. Bukaty) Robotic mascots perform Feb. 7, 2014, during the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

(File Photo/AP/Amy Sancetta) Children attending the short track skating races in the Palavela Arena cheer Feb. 15, 2006, with Torino Olympic mascots Neve (left) and Gliz at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

(File Photo/AP) A snowman mascot of the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck greets children in January 1975 in Kitzbuhel, Austria, during the world downhill ski events.

(File Photo/AP/Eric Draper) Snowlets, the Olympic mascots, walk around the stadium Feb. 7, 1998, prior to the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics at Minami Nagano Sports Park in Nagano, Japan.

(File Photo/AP/John Locher) A child wears one of the Olympic mascots on his face Feb. 12, 2018, when watching the women’s 1,500-meter speedskating race at the Gangneung Oval at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea.

(File Photo/AP/Bob Dear) Amela Dizdar, 3, poses in 1984 with a replica of the Winter Olympics mascot named Vucko in Sarajevo. The mascot was the creation of Joze Trobec, an academic painter from Kranj in Slovenia.

(AP/Mark Schiefelbein) A woman poses for a photo Jan. 12 with a statue of the Winter Olympics mascot Bing Dwen Dwen in Beijing.

(File Photo/AP/Michel Euler) The wooden mascots of the Winter Olympics watch over one of the main shopping streets Feb. 8, 1994, in Lillehammer, Norway.