Olympic Mascot
Corrections
Australia
G’day Matt.
I found your web-site recently.
Most interesting and generally informative.
However, I wish to draw to your
attention some facts about the mascots for the Sydney Olympic
Games.
1.Ollie is not just a bird
but is a Kookaburra. One of the family ‘Kingfisher’. Commonly called a
Laughing Jackass. Australian through and through. Makes a loud laughing call
in the morning and at dusk. Used as an alarm clock in the Australian
bush.
2.Syd is a
platypus. Spelled with ONE ‘s’ and NOT with two. A mammal which lays
eggs, suckles its young, and has webbed feet. Fat stored in tail. Two layers
of hair.
3.Millie is definitely NOT a
hedgehog. Nothing like one! Millie is, as you correctly point out, an
Echidna. A Monotreme like the platypus, also lays eggs and suckles its
young which live in a pouch. Hedgehogs are not found in Australia.
Given the intrinsic value of your
site it would be a pity to not correct the information about the
Sydney mascots.
All three really are unique and are found nowhere else in the World. They
represent something about the Australian culture and dinkum Aussies. No doubt
about it.
I would really appreciate reading
the correct information when I next visit your site. I realise that the
uniqueness of Australia’s fauna (and flora) is not
recognised even by people who live here, and may be confusing to non-natives,
but I hope that you would not want to be associated with purveying false
information!
Regards and Thankyou.
A Concerned Australian
Canada
Hi Matt,
I was checking out your
site about Athens 2004 Olympics and took a moment to check out the mascots of
past tournaments. I am from Saskatchewan, Canada and I think that the Montreal
mascot was supposed to be a Beaver but I can't really tell (the picture is a
little dark)...considering the fact that the Beaver is one of the animals Canada
is known for (at least within) and it is on one of our coins, it is a logical
choice for a Canadian mascot...also, the tail would appear to be a Beaver's
tail! Personally I would have chosen a Moose or a Canada Goose ('cause everyone
knows what they are) but the Beaver is pretty cool too!
Brenda
P.S. Here you go... a
cartoon picture of a beaver...and a real beaver...kinda' cute, eh?
The mascot for the 76 Olympics in Motréal was a
"beaver". It's pelt was prized for making fur coats, hats and gloves over 300
years ago by the French. They ended up colonizing Quebec and Montréal after
having set up fur trading posts with the American Indians that were already
there.
Yiasou!
Alex
Hi Matt ,
i would just like to say your web site is great
ecept for a little booboo on your mascots page
Amik (Montreal, Canada 1976) Amik, means beaver
in the Algonquin Indian language. It was chosen as the mascot for the 1976
Montreal Games because he represent the friendliness, patience and hard work
that helped build Canada also because there are quite a few beavers in
canada. The red sash is the same as the ribbons that were attached to the
Olympic medals.
thank you
and keep up the GREAT work Mary
w.
Korea
i have recently read your web page on the olympic mascots and found 2 mistakes.
the first i sent a correctioin for yesterday and the new one today. i mean no
disrespect, i just wanrt everyone to be correctly informed
The " Ho" in "Hodori" comes from the Korean word
for tiger, and "Dori" is a common masculine diminutive. The Olympic rings adorn
the neck of Hodori, and he wears a "Sangmo" hat from a traditional farm dance.
The streamer on his hat in the shape of an S stands for Seoul.
thank you
Mary Walsh |