Spoiler: The new mascots for the 2026 Winter Games are sooooo cute.

This is the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic mascot: a Phryge!

You might be wondering…what are those things?

Olympic and Paralympic mascots walk on a red carpet promoting Paris 2024, both are whimsical red characters with large eyes and sneakers

And that would be fair.

People were understandably quite puzzled by what looked like giant red blobs as the Paris Olympic mascot.

Look at its creepy eyes.

A pile of red plush mascots with wide eyes and tricolor stripes, representing the 2024 Paris Olympics

This demon wouldn’t burn in the devil’s own furnace.pic.twitter.com/jnHkkSrRmD

Phryges are people too, guys.

They’re stoats, aka ermines, short-tailed weasels who live in northern climates.

Tina and Milo are super cute, but TBH, I think the real thing is even cuter:

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A vintage illustration of a woman from France wearing a red hat with a blue and white rosette and a red scarf. She is smiling and facing forward

Miraitowa, the mascot for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, is waving. The character features large eyes, a futuristic design, and is blue and white

A person in dark clothing holds a plush toy of Soohorang, the official mascot of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, featuring a hat with colorful elements

Vinicius, the Rio 2016 Olympic mascot, stands in an arena next to an image of Tom, the Rio 2016 Paralympic mascot, with an arrow pointing to Tom

Three large mascots—a white rabbit, a beige bear, and a brown leopard—stand on stage at an event, surrounded by performers in white outfits holding lights

Wenlock, the silver mascot of the 2012 London Olympics, is standing with arms raised. The statue has a single large eye and orange Olympic symbols

Sumi and Quatchi, mascots of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, leap joyfully in front of a digital countdown timer. Sumi is dressed as a bear with wings, and Quatchi is a sasquatch in earmuffs

Inflatable mascots from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, and Nini, are displayed among red balloons on a grassy hill

Two mascots from the 2006 Winter Olympics in costume, Neve (left, snowball-like) and Gliz (right, ice cube-like), standing side by side, smiling

Two plush mascots from the Athens 2004 Olympics, dressed in orange and blue outfits, are posed together with a view of a cityscape in the background

Three mascots from the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics: Powder, the snowshoe hare; Coal, the black bear; and Copper, the coyote

A man in a suit stands with Olympic mascots Syd the platypus, Olly the kookaburra, and Millie the echidna, cutting a large cake with Sydney's skyline in the background

Four colorful owl mascots stand amidst a crowd in front of a traditional Japanese temple

Hodori, the friendly tiger mascot of the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, waves while wearing an Olympic rings necklace and a traditional Korean hat

two bear mascots wearing clothes in the mountains

Olympic mascot Sam the Eagle, wearing a top hat with the Olympic rings, walks on a track with a crowd of people and large balloons in the background

Two young figure skaters hold hands with an Olympic mascot. The skaters are dressed in matching outfits with ice skates. Olympic rings are visible in the background

A large crowd at a stadium for the 1980 Moscow Olympics opening ceremony. A giant mosaic of Misha the bear is displayed under the Olympic torch

Hockey players Gilbert Perreault and Bryan Trottier stand on the ice with a Lake Placid 1980 Winter Olympics mascot

Snowman olympic mascots in Germany

A dachshund sits on a sidewalk with two striped plush toy dachshunds. A yellow arrow points to one of the plush toys

Giant sculpture of a whimsical red-headed figure skiing with a smiling face, viewed through a display case

Two mascots, representing the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, stand in a plaza outside a modern building, waving and smiling

A Eurasian ermine stands alert on a rock in a grassy, natural environment