Winter Olympics 2022 – Why are athletes given pandas not medals on the podium? Is it because of Covid?

Published 06/02/2022 at 11:48 GMT

Bing Dwen Dwen, the cuddly panda mascot, is already out of stock in China as Olympic fever grips the country. But why are athletes being given a panda on the podium and not their medals? The Games in Beijing are being held under strict coronavirus restrictions, including the use of masks a lot of the time. Watch every moment of Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on discovery+

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Chances are you’ve been wondering why athletes are given cuddly pandas on the podium instead of medals at Beijing 2022.

At the Tokyo Summer Olympics we became accustomed to the medals being dished out inside the stadium – albeit with athletes having to put medals around their own necks due to Covid risks – but that isn’t happening in Beijing.

Instead, medallists have received a fluffy mascot on the podium, as modelled by New Zealand’s snowboard sensation Zoi Sadowski-Synnott in the above video.

Beijing 2022

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So what’s going on?

The double ceremony

You can’t say Winter Olympic medallists don’t get their time in the limelight. They typically enjoy not one but two ceremonies: a victory ceremony and a medal ceremony.

The victory ceremony follows shortly after the event on a podium, with athletes in Beijing receiving a cuddly panda and hand-knitted bouquets which imitate six real flowers: roses, Chinese roses, lilies of the valley, hydrangeas, laurel, and olive branches.

The medal ceremony takes place later at a special plaza where, as the name suggests, athletes will receive their gold, silver and bronze medals. Like Tokyo, athletes will have to put on their own medals due to coronavirus risks.

Is the panda ceremony due to Covid?

While China has strict Covid restrictions, including widespread use of masks when not mixing within your own team bubble, the victory ceremony, and a later medal ceremony, has long been a staple of the Winter Olympics.

Who is the panda?

Bing Dwen Dwen the panda is the official mascot of the Winter Olympics. According to the official Olympic website, "Bing" means ice and also symbolises purity and strength, and "Dwen Dwen" represents children. "The mascot embodies the strength and willpower of athletes and will help to promote the Olympic spirit," claims the website.

The smiley and chubby panda is wrapped in a sheet of ice to shield them from the elements. They’ve also been immortalised in key chains, pillows and other merchandise.

China have had to panic order truckloads more of the mascot after stocks plunged in a country gripped by Olympic fever.

"I almost cried seeing the mascot," Czech ice dancer Natalie Taschlerova told the Global Times before the Games. Steady on, Natalie, that’s going overboard…

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Watch every moment of Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on discovery+

Beijing 2022