Yodli, a cross between a cow, dog and goat, was unveiled as the mascot for Lausanne 2020 on January 8, 2019. 

Yodli was officially revealed to the crowd prior to a Swiss National Hockey League match between Lausanne Hockey Club and HC Davos on the eve of the one-year-to-go milestone until the opening of the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG).

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach and Virginie Faivre, who replaced the late Patrick Baumann as head of the Lausanne 2020 Organising Committee, were among those in attendance.

Yodli is a cross between a cow, goat and the St Bernard breed of dog ©Lausanne 2020/Twitter
Yodli is a cross between a cow, goat and the St Bernard breed of dog ©Lausanne 2020/Twitter

The yodel singing technique, popular in Switzerland and in areas of France, was the inspiration for the name of the mascot.

Yodli is a cross between a cow, goat and the St Bernard breed of dog, all of which are commonly found in the Swiss mountains.

The design and name of the mascot were chosen by students from the Lausanne-based Romande School of Arts and Communications.



Around 140 students from the school took part in the process and presented their ideas to Lausanne 2020, the IOC and the Olympic Museum.

They took inspiration from Yoggl and Sjogg, the mascots of the first two editions of the Winter YOG in Innsbruck in 2012 and Lillehammer in 2016 respectively.

Yodli is said to have been born and raised in the Swiss mountains, areas of which will play host to sporting events when the Olympic capital hosts the 2020 Winter YOG. 

Snowboarding is listed as Yodli's favourite sport, while it is claimed the multiple origins of the mascot "embody the diversity of the Youth Olympic Games participants".