If you’re watching the Winter Olympics, you must have noticed Olympians around the world are posing with a toy Panda, decorated with a gold wreath, instead of their medals.
Meet Bing Dwen Dwen, the Olympic panda mascot, which is awarded instead the original medal after the competition. The champions receive their medals later in a special ceremony.
In Mandarin Chinese, Bing means ‘ice’ and Dwen Dwen means ‘robust and lively,’ it also represents children. The stuffed toys are concealed inside a plastic panda shell representing ice.
At the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Games, the champions at the time had received Soohorang, a striped white tiger that was the mascot for those Games.
