As if there weren’t enough problems in Athens already (giant ads draped over historic monuments, attendees banned for possessing non-sponsor items), the Olympic Mascots, Athena and Phevos, two duck-like creatures, have been derided as animated condoms and Bob Costas has referred to them as “a genetic experiment gone horribly, ghastly wrong.” Oops, that’s not right. He was referring to “Izzy,” the 1996 Atlanta Games mascot. My bad. Thanks to Craig in Comments for pointing that out.
Chosen from 200 entries and described as sister and brother “full of vitality and creativity, perhaps mischievous and hence lovable,” the pair has been referred to as mutants from a nuclear meltdown. They seem harmless enough but do we really need an Olympic mascot? We’ve already got those cool interlocked rings.
