Vancouver Winter Olympic Mascots

The 2010 Winter Olympics logo was officially released to the public on April 23rd of 2005. The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics has been named after Illanaaq the Inukshuk, with Ilanaaq being the Inuktitut word for friend. The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics which are officially recognized to be the XXI Olympic Winter Games will take place from the 12th of February and the games will continue until the 28th of February 2010 in Vancouver. The Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) is working to organize the Olympics games and these will be the third Olympics hosted by Canada.

The logo mascots for the Vancouver Winter Olympics Games is based on the Inukshuk which was constructed for the Northwest Territories Pavilion at Expo 86 and was given to the people of Vancouver after its completion. This area is now utilized as a landmark lying on the beach of English. The mascot of the Vancouver Winter Olympics games was released on November 27th, 2007. At the time of the unveiling of the mascot, there were many people who took strong exception to the design of the mascots because it represented such a small population within Vancouver. The mascots of this Vancouver Winter Olympics are based on First Nation animals and include Miga, Quatchi, Sumi, and Mumuk.



Miga is a mythical sea bear, part orca and part kermode bear, while Quatchi is represented by a sasquatch, and Sumi is an animal guardian spirit who wears the hat of the orca whale, flies with the wings of the mighty Thunderbird and runs on the strong furry legs of the black bear. Mumuk is a type of Vancouver Island rodent and this mascot has not been declared as an officially recognized mascot but Mumuk has been chosen as a sidekick of the other mascots.