Meet the Winter Olympics mascots: cute, cuddly and under threat from climate change

Tina (left) and Milo, the mascots of the Milano Cortina Olympic and Paralympic Games take the stage in Cortina d'Ampezzo before the last torch relay of the Olympic flame in the city, 26 January. AFP - ODD ANDERSEN

Tina and Milo, the mascots for the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics and Paralympics, are anthropomorphic stoats. Native to the Italian Alps, the habitat of these small mammals is increasingly affected by climate change – however, a group of researchers from the University of Turin have had a funding bid for a project to study and protect the animals turned down by the Milano-Cortina 2026 Foundation.

A white stoat sniffs the wind and frolics with its brown companion amid a blizzard, in animated scenes introducing Tina and Milo, the mascots for the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.