Waldi, the dachshund was the first official Olympic mascot
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The first official Olympic mascot
What is a mascot?
A mascot is a person, animal, or object used as a symbol and believed to bring good luck. Sports teams usually have a mascot.
The Summer Olympics didn’t have an official mascot until 1972. That year, at the Olympics in Munich, Germany, a multi-coloured dachshund dog named ‘Waldi’ became the first official Olympic mascot.
Olympic mascots are usually, an animal native to the area. They can even be human-like figures. The mascots are often used to help make the Olympic Games more popular, especially to children and teens.
Actually, the first Olympic mascot had been created in France in 1968. It was named “Schuss” and it was a little man on skis. But this mascot was not made official.
The Dachshund dog is a popular breed of dog in Germany. Waldi the first official Olympic mascot was created by German designer Otl Aicher. He has also created the logo for German airline Lufthansa.
Popular mascot
However, the first major mascot in the Summer Olympic Games was Misha in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Misha was a Russian bear mascot and he became very famous.
The success of these Olympic mascots helped to popularise the idea of a mascot at all the Olympic Games.
Watch a video about mascots at the Olympic Games. Video credit: Olympics/Youtube
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