Bravo the bear from the Taipei 2017 Summer Universiade has turned out to be the most popular FISU mascot ever, as least if the Mascot Monday tournament is any indication!
In the final contest, Bravo edged out the also highly popular U-Laika from the Krasnoyarsk 2019 Winter Universiade. It was a close contest too – with Bravo getting 51% of the votes, while U-Laika got 49%.
Since mid-November, FISU had been brightening up Mondays with the #MascotMondays tournament, with winners decided by votes on social media.
Eight mascots from previous winter and summer editions of the FISU World University Games were selected for this virtual tournament, including those from Belluno 1985, Sapporo 1991, Strbske Pleso 1987 and Kazan 2013.
Making it to the last four were ‘The Buffalo’ from Buffalo 1993, Wugie from Edmonton 1983, the Siberian husky U-Laika and Bravo the bear from Taipei. The bear and husky finally went head to head in a final vote-off last Monday.
FISU audiences had a chance to vote to choose the winner on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, with voting lasting 24 hours each time.
In the semfinals, U-Laika the husky came through with an impressive win over the mascot from Edmonton 1983, with 70% of Instagram votes in her favour.
U-Laika was a crowd favourite at the FISU World University Games last year, and represents loyalty, friendliness, joy and unbridled energy.
Bravo, the mascot of the Taipei 2017 games is a Formosan black bear wearing a gold medal that represents the hope of the athletes.
The black bear is also an endangered species in Taipei and represents the commitment of the Organising Committee towards protecting the natural environment. Fun fact: The Mandarin name of the mascot, 熊讚 (Pinyin : Xióng Zàn), sounds like the word ‘brilliant’ in the Taiwanese Min-nan language.
As U-Laika and Bravo squared off, it was clear that these two were perhaps the most popular of all among the mascots of the FISU World University Games down the years.