Stoat siblings known as Tina and Milo will represent the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games as mascots, it was announced Wednesday during a music festival in Italy. Along with six little snow drops who are collectively ‘The Flo’, these characters will be used on merchandise, in branding and at live events to heighten the fun and excitement of the Games.
Tina, short for co-host Cortina, will represent the Olympic Winter Games and “is a creative, down-to-earth type who lives in the city and loves to experience shows and concerts,” according to an International Olympic Committee (IOC) press release. She is embodied by the phrase “Dream big!”
Milo is short for Milano and he will represent the Paralympic Games. The IOC says “he loves to perform practical jokes and play in the snow, and in his spare time, he invents musical instruments.” To him “obstacles are trampolines.”
The two mascots unveiled two years ahead of the opening ceremonies set for Milan were created through a collaboration process between the Milano Cortina 2026 Organizing Committee and the Italian Ministry of Education. Primary and secondary school students were invited to submit ideas for mascots and 1,600 entries were received before a shortlist of two finalists were adjudicated in a public poll.
The stoat is a small predator known to hunt rodents and rabbits. It is native to Europe, Asia and North America and is sometimes known as a weasel or ermine (if it has white fur). It is particularly common in Italy’s Dolomites mountain range where skiing and other events will be staged during the Games.
