Southern Italian Students Who Created Olympic Mascots Receive Closing Ceremony Tickets

Five Italian students from a small southern town designed the beloved Tina and Milo mascots for the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. The students, who were 13 when they created the winning design, received closing ceremony tickets and mascot souvenirs as recognition for their contribution.

Five students from a small Italian town have received tickets to the Winter Olympics closing ceremony after their creative design inspired the beloved mascots for the Milano Cortina Games.

The mascot characters — two stoats called Tina and Milo — have become incredibly popular with fans, leading to plush toy versions being completely sold out at official Olympic merchandise locations.

While the Winter Games took place in northern Italy, the creative spark behind the mascots originated in Taverna, a mountain community of approximately 2,500 residents situated 521 meters high in the Sila mountains of southern Calabria.

“The concept of the stoat came entirely from the students. We worked on it for about a month,” explained Gabriella Rotondaro, the physical education instructor who guided the project development over three years ago.

“It was the idea that won, not the stoat as a character. It conveyed the values of sport and inclusion, and that is why it prevailed,” Rotondaro continued.

The student team and their instructors emerged victorious in a nationwide contest organized by Italy’s Ministry of Education along with the Milano Cortina Foundation, beating approximately 1,600 other submissions from throughout the country.

The five young designers — Sara Godino, Aurora Munizza, Francesco Angotti, Federico Barra and Tommaso Pascuzzi — were approximately 13 years old when they created their winning concept.

Beyond receiving tickets to the closing ceremony in Verona, the students were awarded two mascot figures valued at roughly 35 euros ($41) each, along with flags and Olympic-themed scarves.

Critics in Italy have raised questions about whether the school deserved more substantial financial compensation, particularly given that many southern Italian schools face ongoing infrastructure challenges.

However, Rotondaro chose not to escalate that debate.

“Certainly, funds to improve the school building or its activities would have been appreciated, but what matters most is the recognition these five students deserve for their brilliant ideas,” she stated.