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For decades, each Olympic and Paralympic Games has been represented by a mascot of some sort, with varying receptions from the public — from Atlanta's much-maligned "Izzy" in 1996 to Beijing's beloved 2022 panda to the divisive, big-eyed hats of Paris 2024.
Taking up the mantle for 2026 are Milo and Tina, a pair of scarf-wearing sibling stoats — or, as they're called in the U.S., short-haired weasels.
The two are named after the Winter Games' two host cities, Milan (Milano) and Cortina d'Ampezzo, and are described by organizers as the "first openly Gen Z mascots."
"Our stoats are two cheerful and easy-going teenagers, energetic, determined and strong-willed, sometimes charmingly irreverent towards adults and eager to assert their role as protagonists in the world to come," the Milano Cortina organizing committee wrote.
You can tell them apart by their coats and backstories.
Meet Tina and Milo
Tina, the Olympics mascot, is cream-colored with a brown-tipped tail. She is described as a "creative, down-to-earth type who lives in the city and loves to experience shows and concerts" and is "in awe of the power of beauty and its ability to transform."
"I like to explore, to try new things, to change," she says in her bio. "Every winter, however, nothing can keep me from returning to my beloved mountains to have fun with my brother and friends."
Milo, the Paralympics mascot, is brown with a white tummy. He lives in the mountains and loves to play practical jokes, frolic in the snow and invent musical instruments in his spare time, organizers say. He was born without a paw, but learned to walk using his tail.
"It was never a big problem for me, perhaps because I was always taught that obstacles, if you take a good look at them and understand how to approach them, become super trampolines!" his bio reads.
How they got the gig
Mascots are the ambassadors of the Games, welcoming athletes and spectators to the host country while promoting its identity and values online and abroad. It's a big decision. And for these Games, it all started with Italian schoolkids.
As part of the creation process, Italy's Ministry of Education invited primary and secondary school students to submit ideas for the mascots — and got over 1,600 entries.
It polled the public on its two shortlisted ideas: a pair of flowers (an edelweiss and a snowdrop) on a journey from the mountain to the city, the creation of students in Lombardy, and the sporty stoats with Olympic dreams, courtesy of students in the Calabria region.
Milo and Tina were officially unveiled to the public in February 2024, nearly two years to the day before the Olympics opening ceremony in Milan. And they were not alone: Organizers decided they would be accompanied by six little snowdrop sidekicks known as The Flo, flowers symbolizing rebirth and inspired by the contest runner-up.
Stoats 101
Organizers say stoats are the "ideal animals to embody the contemporary Italian spirit" guiding the Games, citing their liveliness, agility and speed.
"They are curious by nature, have the surprising ability to change the colour of their fur according to the seasons, and the resilience necessary to adapt to a challenging habitat such as the mountains," they wrote. "They will be the ones leading us to a future that is respectful of the environment and of differences, ever more sustainable and brighter."
They belong to the mustelid family, which includes weasels, otters, ferrets, badgers and wolverines (but no longer skunks, who were reclassified based on emerging genetic evidence in the 1990s).
Stoats are native to Eurasia and North America and can be found in the Italian Alps, usually by the name ermine, which refers to their white winter coats. In warmer months, they have light brown fur with a white belly, neck, feet and chin.
The year-round black tips on their tails were used to decorate rugs and robes for royalty for centuries. The U.S. National Park Service (NPS) says weasels were considered an "unbesmirchable symbol of purity" in Europe for generations before the word took on its "undeserved duplicitous reputation."
"I doubt anyone has ever been thanked for hurling the epithet 'weasel' at someone. But maybe they should be," it continues. "The weasel family is highly resourceful, ambitious, courageous, agile, energetic, and downright adorable in many instances."
Stoats may be known for their long-necked, small and slender bodies, but can take on prey more than five times their own size. They eat almost everything: rodents, birds, mice, voles, eggs, small snakes, insects and more. But stoats' preferred prey is rabbits, and they have a unique way of trapping them: the power of dance.
"It is thought that the exaggerated twisting, hopping, and darting about disorients and perhaps even hypnotizes some prey species," the NPS says. "The weasel gets ever closer until it is too late for the prey to get away, with the last hop landing on top of the animal quickly followed by the killing bite."
Here's an example (warning: the dance works).
