Mascots of the FISU Sporting Events
Detailed Overview
FISU Mascots: A Closer Look
The first official Universiade Mascot was named 'Copico', and appeared in Jaca, Spain during the Winter Universiade of 1981. He was portrayed as a little cartoon-like character on skis. Since then there has been a mascot for almost every Universiade, Winter and Summer (with the exception of WU 1983 and SU 1981, 1989 & 1991). More recently mascots start to appear at the World University Championships as well. The mascot has become an important ambassador of sporting events...
Mascot History
The word 'mascot is derived from the French term 'mascotte', which means lucky charm. The English word is first recorded in 1881 shortly after the French word, itself first recorded in 1867, was popularized by the opera 'La Mascotte', performed in December 1880. The French word in turn came from the Modern Provençal word mascoto, ‘piece of witchcraft, charm, amulet,’ a feminine diminutive of masco, ‘witch.’ This word can probably be traced back to Late Latin 'masca'. In olden days, the word mascot was associated with inanimate objects like a lock of hair or the figurehead on a sailing ship. But from the start the 19th century and up to the present, the term is most often linked to a good luck animal.
It were sporting organizations which started to use animals as mascots to provide some extra entertainment for the spectators. At first, sport teams dragged along real living animals to their games. And most of these animals were predators to roar and strike fear into the hearts of their opponents.
The transformation of the live animal and two-dimensional fantasy mascots into the modern three-dimensional variety was triggered by the invention of the Muppets in the late 1960s. These larger than life puppets represented a whole new medium in mascot development and utility: cute and touchable corporate ambassadors. But also outside the sportfield corporate companies discovered the possibilities of the mascot. Looking around in our daily environment one can spot several examples at once. In both cases, the adoption of Muppet-like mascots proved to be overwhelming public relations and marketing success. That success quickly spawned creations by other corporate and sports entities which have in turn achieved successes of their own. As a result, mascots are now considered to be a 'must-have' marketing and public relations tool for many organizations.
Film Diva Sofia Loren hugs Debbie, the mascot of the 2003 Winter Universiade in Tarvisio, Italy.
Collector's Item
The mascot has become a great marketing tool for the Organizing Committees and everybody loves the mascot. In most cases a stuffed toy of the mascot has been designed, which has become a wanted item by the kids and memorabilia collectors.
In recent years a number of life-size mascots have appeared at the sport venues and ceremonies of the Universiades and Championships to entertain the crowds... and they are doing a great job!
Chronology
Click on the links below to learn more about the different mascots of the FISU events.
Summer Universiade Mascots
Winter Universiade Mascots
World University Championship Mascots
Tarvisio mascot Debbie lost her head...
