Håkon and Kristin were the official mascots of the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

and Sondre was the official mascot of the

1994 Winter Paralympics The 1994 Winter Paralympics ( no, Paralympiske vinterleker 1994; nn, Paralympiske vinterleikane 1994), the sixth Paralympic Winter Games, were held in Lillehammer, Norway, from 10 to 19 March 1994. These Games marked the second time the Paral ...

, both held in Lillehammer,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. Håkon and Kristin are two happy Norwegian children, a boy and a girl, both dressed in

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

clothes. Although they wear medieval clothes referring to their historical roots, they are the children of today and express interests and visions of youth as environmental awareness. The mascots are created by author Kari Werner and her husband illustrator Werner Grossmann from an idea of architect Javier Ramirez Campuzano, who had designed the corporate identity of the Mexico Pavilion for the 1994 Winter Olympic Games. Eight pairs of Norwegian children, each representing a region of the country, were selected from about 10,000 subscribers aged 10 to 11 years old to play the mascots. Two venues of the 1994 Winter Olympics located side by side, had the same name as the Mascots: the

Håkons Hall Håkons Hall, sometimes anglicized as Håkon Hall and Haakons Hall, is an arena located at Stampesletta in Lillehammer, Norway. With a spectator capacity of 11,500 people, it is the largest handball and ice hockey venue in the country. Håko ...

and

Kristins Hall Eidsiva Arena, also known as Kristins Hall, is an arena located at Stampesletta in Lillehammer, Norway. It consist of an ice rink, a combined handball and floorball court, and a curling rink. The venue, owned and operated by the Lillehammer Muni ...

. For the Paralympic Games, the committee subsequently requested visual artists Tor Lindrupsen and Janne Solem for the creation of a new mascot along the creative lines of Håkon and Kristin. They created Sondre, an amputated troll to represent Norse mythology origins.

Historical basis

The mascots' names refer to historical figures from the thirteenth century whose fate is closely linked to Norway and the protagonist that Lillehammer region area had on that conflict: Håkon IV who was the king of Norway between 1217 and 1263 and Princess Kristin Sverrisdóttir, his aunt. They lived in Norway during a time of a conflict between the

Birkebeiner The Birkebein Party or Birkebeinar (; no, Birkebeinarane (nynorsk) or (bokmål)) was the name for a rebellious party in Norway, formed in 1174 around the pretender to the Norwegian throne, Eystein Meyla. The name has its origins in propaga ...

and the Bagler clans. When Håkon Håkonson was a small child he had to escape Lillehammer through the mountains with his supporters due to threatening by the Baglers. The Princess of the Birkebeiner, Kristin Sverrisdottir, married meanwhile the chief of the Baglers Filippus Simonsson in the sake of peace between the two groups.Les mascottes des Jeux Olympiques d’hiver d’Innsbruck 1976 à Sotchi 2014
Olympic.org

References

1994 Winter Olympics 1994 Winter Paralympics Olympic mascots Paralympic mascots Fictional dolls and dummies Fictional trolls Fictional Norwegian people Fictional children {{Olympic-stub