With just six months to go until the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the British Olympic Association (BOA) has announced the six children that have been selected to be Team GB’s first-ever Mini Mascots.
Following a nomination process, a shortlist was asked why they’d love to be chosen as a Mini Mascot and were judged by the BOA Athletes’ Commission.
Nine-year-old Santino Perrin, from Burry Port, was selected along with five others from more than 20,000 youngsters all wanting to be mascots. Each mascot will represent all four the home nations that make up Team GB – Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Santino, who attends Ysgol Gymraeg Dewi Sant in Llanelli, was nominated by his parents Alana and Stewart. He has a deep passion for sports, playing football for Evans and Williams FC in Llanelli, as well as being an active member of the Llanelli Swimming Club.
His love for sports and his bilingual representation of Wales through a video submission made him stand out among the nominees, ultimately catching the attention of the British Olympics Athletes’ Commission.
His proud mother Alana commenting on her son’s selection said:
“We nominated Santino after seeing a post on Facebook announcing that Team GB were looking for their first team of Mini Mascots.
“Santino really loves sports and I knew he’d enjoy being part of the 2024 Olympics in some way, but I had no idea so many others would be nominated, there were 20,000 entries!
“After the nomination process, the shortlisted children were asked to put a video together explaining why they’d like to be chosen.
“We made a bilingual video to represent Wales, and Santino spoke about his love of football, swimming and running.
“The finalists were then selected by the British Olympics Athletes’ Commission, and we were amazed when we got the email saying he’d been chosen.
“So far, we’ve met the other mini mascots and Santino took part in a professional photoshoot to announce the group.
“All the children were interviewed on camera, and we were really proud of Santino for doing something completely new and out of his comfort zone.
“They also got to meet canoe slalom Olympic silver medallist Mallory Franklin, who brought her medal along.
“They were all amazed at how heavy it was, and I think it really inspired them to keep going with their different sports.”
In the lead up to the Olympics, which run from July 26 until August 11, Santino and the others will get to support Team GB athletes in various stages of the journey. Firstly where athletes head to Birmingham to collect their Olympic kit, then at local team announcements, whilst also taking part at Team GB fan zones.
Santino is really looking forward to meeting some of the athletes, especially any Welsh members of the team.
“We’re all really excited to be a part of Team GB, it’ll make watching the games even more exciting having met some of the competitors,” continued Alana.
“Santino absolutely loves sport, he takes part in Junior Parkrun, plays football and swims twice a week, he even did the Cardiff Half Marathon junior race last October.
“Seeing a side of the Olympics that most others don’t get to experience will be hugely inspirational for him.”
Carly Hodgson, Team GB head of marketing said:
“We’re so excited to announce the first-ever Mini Mascots and welcome them to Team GB for the first time.
“They will be an asset in rallying their communities and the nation to support Team GB in the run up to Paris, in a role that we know will be hugely exciting and inspiring for both them and our athletes.
“We’re especially happy that the children who made it through the application process represent each of the home nations which make up Team GB.”
[Lead image: Team GB]
