It feels like every time we’ve seen a mascot revealed for an upcoming Olympics Games, it’s always a bizarre one.
Also, why do we need Olympics mascots in the first place? Maybe that’s for another post.
We just saw the mascots revealed for Paris, and they’re getting ripped all over the internet: They’re supposed to be red hats, specifically Phrygian caps that were associated with the French Revolution.
But they have giant eyes and big smiles and … it’s all kind of creepy.
So where should the caps rank among the weirdest Olympic mascots? Let’s run down some of the most bizarre:
8
2016 Rio Games: Vinicius
Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
Apparently a mishmash of different Brazilian animals. Not the weirdest, but weird enough.
7
2008 Beijing Games: Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, Nini
(AP Photo/Andy Wong)
They’re apparently good luck dolls. I just learned something!
6
2004 Athens Games: Phevos and Athena
Photo by Ginger Wall, USA TODAY
Per Olympics.com:
Phevos and Athena are brother and sister. They owe their strange shape to a typical terracotta doll in the shape of a bell from the 7th century BC, the “daidala”. They symbolise the pleasure of playing and the values of Olympism. The choice of a brother and sister was deliberate: they embody the unity of men and women, through equality and brotherhood. Phevos wears a blue tunic to recall the sea and the colour of the Games emblem, while Athena is in orange to evoke the sun and the Paralympic emblem.
That explains the look, but they’re still bizarre.
5
2020 Tokyo Games: Miraitowa and Someity
(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
A bit of nightmare fuel.
4
2024 Paris Games: The Phryges
(AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)
I’ve seen weirder, as you’ll see.
3
1996 Atlanta Games: Izzy
(AP Photo/Donald Stampfli, File)
Again, from Olympics.com: “A product of information technology, Izzy is blue and wears training shoes.”
What?
2
2006 Torino Games: Neve and Gliz
Photo by Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY
A snowball and ice cube with bodies. Like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, except not.
1
2012 London Games: Wenlock
Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports
GAHHHHHHHHH!