The mascot for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics has been revealed:

According to the Tokyo 2020 website:
‘The name MIRAITOWA is based on the Japanese words “Mirai”(future) and “
towa ” (eternity) connected together. This name was chosen for the Olympic mascot to promote a future full of hope forever, in the hearts of all the people in the world’
There is a long tradition of mascots for the Olympic games. I have managed to find weightlifting mascots going back to 1980.
Before we get on to the weightlifting mascots, I should say that I did try to find a picture of the 1976 (Montreal) mascot lifting a bar but may well not exist, which would not be surprising, given the mascot in question:

Now on to the mascots that have put hands on
1980 (Moscow) – Misha

1984 (Low Angeles) – Sam the Olympic Eagle

1988 (Seoul) – Hodori

1992 (Barcelona) – Cobi

1996 (Atlanta) – Izzy

2000 (Sydney) –Syd, Ollie and Millie
(Syd is doing the lifting here)

2004 (Athens) – Phevos and Athena

2008 (Beijing) – Jingjing

2012 (London) – Wenlock

2016 (Rio) – Vinicius
