The first Olympic ‘mascot’

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 23 July 2024

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

After being designed in one night, Shuss, the cartoon skier, debuted at the 1968 Winter Games in Grenoble, France.

Instead of ‘mascot’, the Olympic Organising Committee referred to it as a ‘character’ at the time.

In the colours of the French flag, Shuss was available as a variety of souvenirs.

Megan Jones speaks to one manufacturer of Shuss merchandise, André Thiennot.

(Picture: Shuss souvenir. Credit: BBC)

Transcript

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0:00.0	He is Brian Cox.
0:02.8	Hello.
0:03.3	And he understands science.
0:05.3	I'm Robin Ince and I don't understand it quite so much.
0:09.0	Could it tell us something about the nature of matter?
0:11.3	Nope.
0:12.0	Okay, good.
0:14.2	Together we'll be joined by a collection of experts and non-expert guests.
0:18.6	What's going on?
0:19.8	Don't worry.
0:21.7	Taking a look at some of the most wonderful things
0:24.4	in the scientific world.
0:25.9	Science with Funny Bits, The Infinite Monkey Cage on Radio 4 and BBC Sounds. Hello, it's the Witness History podcast from the BBC World Service with me Megan Jones.
0:42.0	Olympic mascots are called the Ambassadors of the Games.
0:46.0	They're supposed to bring its spirit to life and represent the cultural heritage of where the event is taking place. There's been quite a variety through the years,
0:56.0	from a platypus to panda, a beaver to a bear. But to find out about the very first one, I've got to take you back to the 1960s and to France.
1:07.0	It's 1967.
1:12.0	Preparations are underway for the winter. It's 1967.
1:13.0	Preparations are underway for the Winter Olympics in Grenoble.
1:17.0	Paris, where the torch bearing the Olympic flame was proudly carried through the streets of the city.
1:23.0	More than 150 kilometers to the east of Paris.
1:27.0	In the small countryside town of Pinay, behind the scenes there are more preparations underway.
	...

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