The first bear mascot was introduced in Moscow 1980, when Misha became a household name, but “Mikhail Potapych Toptygin” (Misha’s full name) is not the only bear mascot to have participated in the Games.
In Calgary 1988 two polar bears, Hidy and Howdy, flew the Canadian flag at the Winter Olympic Games, while bears returned in Salt Lake City 2002, when Coal was chosen as mascot along with coyote Copper and snowshoe hare Powder.
In Sochi 2014 another bear was part of a trio: the polar bear, along with the leopard and the hare, at the Winter Games.
Also famous was Beijing 2022’s Bing Dwen Dwen, the ice-covered panda who welcomed the world to the People’s Republic of China’s second Olympic Games..

Of course, bears are not the only animals that have inspired Games mascots. Munich 1972 introduced fans to the dachshund Waldi, with the Olympic marathon course even taking the shape of the colorful dog.
A beaver took center stage in Montreal 1976: Amik (a word meaning beaver in Algonquin, an indigenous language of Canada) became the symbol of the Games.
Two years later it was the turn of Roni, the raccoon that thrilled everyone at Lake Placid 1980, followed by Vučko, the wolf at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympic Games, before Sam, the American eagle, stole the show in Los Angeles 1984.
In Seoul 1988 the star was the tiger Hodori, while the Pyrenean mountain dog, Cobi, made an appearance in Barcelona 1992.
More recently, the duck-billed platypus (Syd), the kookaburra (Olly) and the spiny anteater (Millie) became the ambassadors of the Sydney 2000 Games, while the white tiger Soohorang was the symbol of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games.