The search is on for the Olympic mascot. What will it be? A cute little fuzzy creature or a beautiful goddess? This is always a tough choice for PR people since for some of us the image we have of a team or event has a lot to do with the mascot. I know the 2004 Olympic committee must be having trouble with this one or else we would have seen it by now. To tell you the truth I was not aware of there ever having been a mascot for any other Olympics but recently discovered that indeed there have been. Here are some of the mascots from past Olympics. After you finish marveling over the depth and creativity it took to come up with these mascots of the past you can see my selections for Athens 2004.

This is Waldi from the 1972 summer games in Munich. He is one of those hot-dog dogs that you see all over Germany. Good choice of mascot except nobody over the age of two would want one.

From the summer of 1976 games in Montreal we have Amik. What exactly it is supposed to be I am nor sure and I seriously doubt if many people bought one of these. Correction

Leave it to the Russians to give us the first decent Olympic mascot. This is Misha from Moscow 1980.

For the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics America countered with a chicken dressed up like Uncle Sam and holding a torch like the statue of liberty. The name of course is Sam. But the Russians did not even show up.

This is Hodori the Tiger from the 1988 Seoul Olympics. He seems to be holding some kind of wire attached to an electronic device on his head. As to it's purpose I am afraid to ask. Correction

This looks like some kind of Pokeyman from Japan but in reality it is Cobi from Barcelona in 1992. He has to be the best dressed Olympic mascot but is he scratching his ear or holding his nose?

This is Izzy from the 1996 games in Atlanta. He appears to be some kind of insect or space-creature. Notice the clever use of the Olympic rings.

The 2000 Sydney games had three mascots, Ollie, Syd and Millie. A bird, a platypuss and a hedgehog. I don't know about the bird but you can't find less cuddly creatures than a hedgehog (actually it is an echidna) and a platypuss (which is poisonous). Correction

Yes an impressive bunch that probably brought in millions of dollars. But I believe that if Athens 2004 is not the best Olympics ever they can at least be known as having the best Olympic mascot. (This should be easy). These are my choices for the Olympic Mascot for Athens 2004. click here