World Cup Special: sport mascots

Major sport events often catalyze collective attention, because of personal interest or because television and newspapers do not speak of any other topic. As you all know, willy-nilly, this is the month of the World Cup, taking place in South Africa! We are usually carried away by the enthusiasm for these sports events and we want to pay tribute World Cup and Olympics in our own way, making a journey to discover the mascots!

Who is the chosen mascot for the 2010 World Cup? His name is Zakumi, a leopard of 16 years old, cheerfu and (of course) lover of clean and fair game. The author, Andries Odendaal, has chosen June 16th as the date of birth for his character, the day South Africa celebrates Youth Day and commemorates the outbreak of the Soweto riots of 1976, the beginning of the revolt against the apartheid. The name “Zakumi” blends the syllable “za”, which identifies the nation of South Africa, with the word “kumi” (number 10), while its colors (green and yellow gold) are the ones chosen by the host team.

Zakumi, Sudafrica 2010

Since 1966, every World Cup has its own mascot, which reflects the aesthetic taste of that particular period and most of all represents the host nation. Ironically, the characters chosen for the Korean and Japanese World Cup are not at all representative of the very well known graphic and artistic skills of these nations…

Le mascotte dei Mondiali di Calcio
Some World Cup mascots: World Cup Willie, England 1966; Gauchito, Argentina 1978; Ciao, Italy 1990; Footix, France 1998; Ato, Kaz and Nik, Korea-Japan 2002; Goleo, Germany 2006.

Even the Olympics and Paralympics games have their mascots… in our opinion much nicer than the World Cup ones. We cannot forget Neve and Gliz (with Aster), the characters chosen to animate the 2006 Winter Olympics, which were held here in Turin. If you are wondering who is the Italian designer who has made them, know that… he is not Italian!

Neve, Gliz e Aster, Olimpiadi Invernali 2006
Neve, Gliz and Aster, mascots of Turin 2006, created by Pedro Albuquerque.

Surely, many of you will remember the five cute mascots of Beijing 2008, drawn by the Chinese artist Han Meilin: Fuwas represent both Olympic colors and symbols of the host country, sports and natural elements. The five were also the protagonists of TV series and video games! It’s very cute, in our opinion, also Fu Niu Lele, the colorful cow selected for the Paralympics games in China.

Le mascotte di Pechino 2008
The mascots of Beijing 2008: Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, Nini. Combining their names together you get the phrase “Beijing huanying ni,” Beijing welcomes you. The mascot for the Paralympics games is Fiu Niu Lele: her name means “good luck, hard work, happiness.”

For the 2010 Winter Olympics games, which were held in Vancouver, there have been chosen four characters (Miga, Quatchi, Sumi and Mukmuk) made by the Canadian-American duo Meomi, well known by design lovers. Meomi “kawaii” style however was criticized as unrepresentative of the host country and too tied to Japanese artistic imagination.

Le mascotte di Vancouver 2010
Sumi, Quatchi, Miga and Mukmuk, Meomi created by Meomi Design for Vancouver 2010.

And what lies ahead? For 2010, the first Youth Olympic games in history are scheduled in Singapore! The mascots will be Lyo and Merly, a lion and a merlion (half-lion half-mermaid mythological creature), representing the pride and the folklore of the host country: our favorites for sure! The next Summer Olympics, however, will be held in two years in London and they will be represented by Wenlock and Mandeville, two anthropomorphic pieces of steel, to be honest very little kawaii. The duo wasn’t a great success among adults (have been called “one-eyed monsters”), but it seems that children have quite enjoyed such a choice… We think they’re pretty ugly!

Le mascotte di Singapore 2010 e Londra 2012
The mascots of the Youth Olympics in Singapore: Lyo and Merly. The mascots for London 2012: Wenlock and Mandeville. Their names resemble those of cities that have hosted a precursor of the modern Olympic games and the country where the Paralympics were created.

By Alessandra 0
By Alessandra
Copywriter by chance and graphic designer by passion. She deals with all aspects of the blog: content, design, technical side, social media managing.
Last update: 7 October 2012
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