Vancouver turns to native legends for mascots

By Allan Dowd

SURREY, British Columbia (Reuters) - Organizers of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver used animals of Canada's Pacific Coast -- both real and imaginary -- as inspiration for the three official Games mascots unveiled on Tuesday.

The mascots Miga, Quatchi and Sumi were unveiled in an elaborate ceremony before an audience of school children, a key market for merchandise sales that organizers of the Vancouver Games hope will generate C$46 million in royalties.

The mascots -- or "critters" as their designers call them -- incorporate elements from real animals such as killer whales and coastal bears with those of mythical beings such as the sasquatch and the thunderbird of Indian legend.

"We didn't really look at other (Olympic) mascots. We just wanted something that would represent Canadians," said Vicki Wong, one of the designers.

Organizers of the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing are using five mascots, while other Olympics have traditionally had just one or two. The 1972 Olympics in Munich were the first to have an official mascot.

The Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) decided to go with three after test-marketing a variety of designs with groups across Canada, and making sure the names could be pronounced and marketed in languages around the world.

"I don't think there is really a magic number," VANOC Chief Executive John Furlong said.

Miga is combination of an orca, or killer whale, which is common along Canada's Pacific coast, and a "spirit bear" -- a name used to describe a white-furred Kermode bear, a normally brown-colored animal found in the coastal wilderness.