Whizbee the Bee has been announced as the official mascot of London 2017 following a competition.
Whizbee the Bee has been announced as the official mascot of London 2017 following a competition.
Whizbee the Bee and Hero the Hedgehog have been revealed as the official mascots for the London 2017 World Para Athletics Championships and IAAF World Championships respectively following a nationwide search in Great Britain in partnership with iconic BBC children’s television show Blue Peter.
Whizbee and Hero were created by talented Elinor, aged nine, and stood out from an overwhelming response of more than 4,000 entries to the official mascot competition run by organizers and Blue Peter in February.
Key to Elinor’s design was the important message about the need to protect bees with numbers of them in decline across the UK and also the consideration of Whizbee using a prosthetic blade.
“It is so exciting that my designs were chosen as the winner,” she said. “I was so happy when I was told. When I saw the competition, I was really inspired but I didn’t think I would win.
“Whizbee has a blade like the Paralympians which is really important. It’s really cool getting them made into proper mascots and I am so happy they have found an actor to perform as Whizbee.”