The Olympic mascot is one of the symbols of the Olympic Games. It is either an image of an animal characteristic of the country in which the games are held, or an image of some inanimate object. The host country uses the mascot for advertising and commercial purposes, to attract interest in the Olympics and to obtain an additional source of funds.
The mascot was first used at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Then the Waldi dachshund was chosen as this symbol. As the developers of the mascot explained, such qualities as perseverance, perseverance, dexterity are inherent in the dachshund. And this is absolutely necessary for an athlete who wants to succeed. In addition, Munich is the capital of the federal state of Bavaria, where dachshunds are extremely popular as pets.
At the next 1976 Summer Olympics in the Canadian city of Montreal, the beaver Amik was the mascot. The choice of this particular animal is deeply symbolic, because due to the sale of beaver skins, Canada actually existed in the first period of its history. In addition, such qualities as patience and hard work are inherent in the beaver, without which an athlete has nothing to dream of high results. And the word "amik" in translation from some Indian languages just means "beaver".
The citizens of Russia are most familiar and close to the mascot of the Moscow Olympics, which took place in 1980 - the bear cub Misha. It was created by the illustrator Viktor Chizhikov. Although the bear in nature is a dangerous predator, Misha the bear evoked completely different feelings. He looked like a sweet, good-natured, cheerful bumpkin. And the final chord of the closing ceremony of the Olympics, when a doll depicting a bear cub was launched into the sky with the help of balloons, literally shocked a huge number of spectators. They were delighted and moved.
Another predatory mammal - the tiger - became the mascot of the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. True, the organizers of the games made him a little tiger Khodori (translated from Korean "Hodori" - "Tiger Boy") - cheerful, good-natured and funny. To enhance this impression, they "presented" the tiger cub with a black peasant cap, which is traditionally worn in Korean villages.
