On July 26, a whole host of the greatest athletes in the world will assemble in France and Tahiti for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games.
Marking the centenary of the 1924 Games in Paris, the nation has gone all-out to make it an unmissable and iconic sporting event, with a part of that effort being the official Olympic mascot.
We’ve been on an impressive run of mascots over the last several summer and winter events, so there’s a lot for France’s mascot to live up to. Here’s what you need to know about the Paris 2024 Olympic Mascot.
What are the Paris 2024 Olympic Mascots?
The Paris 2024 Olympic mascots, or rather, “les mascottes,” are the Phryges. The two bright red mascots, one of which is on a running blade for the Paralympic Games, will be popping up across France this summer.
Each of them wears sneakers, has eyelashes with the French flag colour scheme, big blue eyes, the Paris 2024 logo on the front, and has a triangular body that’s red with a turned-over top.
The Phryges are here to inspire the French people to get involved in sport, to promote the biggest sporting event in the world, and to spur on the home athletes.
Of course, France won’t be among the favourites to top the medal table in the sports betting Ontario residents can access, but they’ll certainly be in the mix for medals in swimming, climbing, basketball, and soccer.
The design may appear a bit odd, especially as we’ve had a lot of anthropomorphized animals as Olympic mascots of late, but it does have some sound foundations in European history.
What are the Paris 2024 Olympic Mascots Based on?
The Paris 2024 Olympic mascots are based on the Phrygian cap worn throughout history by liberators across Europe. Specifically for France, the Phrygian caps were worn as early as the French Revolution of 1789.
Phrygian caps are very similar in appearance to the Olympic mascots, being soft red conical hats often with ear flaps and a top that flops forward.
The emblem of the French Revolution was also commonly mistaken for that of the pileus cap, which was worn by people who were freed from Roman slavery long before the French Revolution.
Still, being a famed sight of that monumental moment in French history, the Phrygian cap is now associated with liberty, with the Olympic mascots being a nod to the shared history of the French people and Phrygians.
How the Paris 2024 Olympic Mascots Compare to Other Olympic Mascots
The Phryges will be all over the parks, stadiums, and broadcasts for the Paris 2024 Games, cheering on those who come up good in the live betting odds and welcoming fans to the events.
They’re going to be very prominent, so the hosts will be hoping that their mascots go down well with fans. They do break a strong streak of animal mascots, like the space panda of Beijing 2022 and the futuristic Tokyo 2020 mouse mascot.
At the very least, the Phryges have a better historical founding and aesthetic than the Wenlock of London 2012. Those things were said to be from the last drops of steel of the stadium build with a camera for an eye.
The Paris 2024 Olympic mascot remains a strong step up from the London 2012 mascots, and for the historical angle, they’ve got stronger roots for the host nation than most mascots since the turn of the century.
*Credit for all images in this article belongs to Alamy*
