Blue Olympic Pole Vault Cattah!

August 8, 2012 10:38 PM

What is the story on the 2012 Olympic Women's Pole Vault stuffed kitteh?

I was watching the Women's Olympic Pole Vault and I saw a stuffed toy cat sitting on the collection of poles (photo should be here, photo number 3).

It's blue and cute and ... what's the story? Who does it belong to? It disappeared after the competition, and I worried about it being stolen, or wandering off in the sewers of London, lost and unloved. Nooooooo!

Does anyone know the background to this cat?

posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord to Grab Bag (4 answers total)

Cat looks white and black like Looney Tunes' Sylvester to me...
posted by Seboshin at 10:52 PM on August 8, 2012

I don't know if the reason why the mascot is in the arena, but:

Looney Tunes pole vault (featuring Sylvester) and in Tweet Zoo (1957) Sylvester pole vaults.

So he has form, like, in this event.
posted by MuffinMan at 12:38 AM on August 9, 2012

That's definitely Sylvester, although he looks kind of off-model to me. That might mean he's a bootleg, but he could just be a poorly designed and/or poorly photographed licensed toy.
posted by Faint of Butt at 4:33 AM on August 9, 2012

I don't know that he's off-model -- he just looks very well loved. I have some stuffed animals that were my constant companions for years, and they're a little squeezed out and fur-bare, too. I bet he's a competitor's childhood friend.
posted by fiercecupcake at 8:16 AM on August 9, 2012