I went from going to school every day
and playing like a normal ten-year-old,
to doing all sorts of things like being on TV or radio.
We were part of the medal ceremony,
gave Gold and Silver
to another Norwegian. It was just miraculous.
(FLAME CATCHERS)
(LILLEHAMMER 1994 MASCOTS)
(OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES LILLEHAMMER 1994)
Part of the magic of Lillehammer '94
came straight from the pages of a fairy tale,
with children from all over the country
playing the roles of Haakon and Kristin,
the first ever time the Olympic mascots were real people.
Haakon was a Norwegian king of the 13th century.
(ELLEF PRESTAETER, "HAAKON" MASCOT, LILLEHAMMER 1994)
It seems Kristin was his aunt
and she was some kind of princess or royal figure.
What was special was they didn't want someone
with, like, an animal costume being a squirrel -
they wanted Norwegian kids
to perform these kind of semi-historical characters.
Some of the previous mascots were very different!
(SCNEEMANN THE SNOWMAN INNSBRUCK, 1976)
(RONI LAKE PLACID, 1980)
(VUČKO THE LITTLE WOLF SARAJEVO 1984)
(HIDY & HOWDY CALGARY 1988)
(MAGIQUE ALBERTVILLE, 1992)
(BRITT ELIN BJØRN, "KRISTIN" MASCOT, LILLEHAMMER 1994)
It was the year before the Olympics,
a paper was sent out to every primary school in Norway,
with an ad requiring mascots.
My sister told me to try it out, so she signed me up for it.
After a while, I got a letter...
..saying I got an audition.
So I went to that
and sang a song by Alf Prøysen
and they thought it was good and chose me.
It really turned my life around.
Up here, we were at the centre of something big
and we were basically just smiling and waving.
During the medal ceremony, we would perform a poem,
so that would be our main task
and then we'd give flowers to the winners.
Both Ellef and Britt Ellin remember particular
magical moments whilst playing Haakon and Kristin.
We are at the cross-country skiing stadium.
I was here on the first day of the competition
for the 30k men's race.
There was a lot of anticipation about this young contender
who was my hero, Thomas Alsgaard.
He was only 22 years old.
As it turns out, on the day, he outperformed everyone.
Then we were part of the medal ceremony,
gave him the Gold,
and it was just miraculous.
In the figure skating gala
all the participants dress up how they want...
..and create a real show, and Philippe Candeloro from France
dressed up as Rocky.
He did his show with a salto and it was really great.
The audience went crazy.
When he was done, I gave him flowers.
He knelt down and kissed me on the cheek.
The audience were cheering "Woohoo!"
Oh, I got one on the other side as well!
I was really happy.
It was really fantastic,
a really special moment.
It was a really big part of my life.
I'll never forget about it. Never.
A lot happened in a short amount of time
so it took some time to sink in.
I'm proud to have been involved.
The Olympic magic returned 22 years later
for the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games
and, again, the people of Lillehammer
got the chance to be involved.
(WINTER YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES LILLEHAMMER 2016)
A mascot was required,
and local girl Line Ansethmoen
jumped at the chance to show off her artistic talent.
My mum showed me the competition
and she wanted me to enter and I thought, why not?
(LINE ANSETHMOEN CREATOR OF "SJOGG" MASCOT, LILLEHAMMER 16)
It looked like fun and if I didn't get chosen or didn't win,
then no biggie!
I did a little bit of research before I decided what to draw,
I did sketch a fox, a moose,
a strange rodent,
but I felt like a lynx would suit
our fauna and nature quite well.
'Sjogg', meaning snow in Norwegian, was born!
I wanted him to look like an average teenager in a way,
so not really buff.
I made him sort of chubby, not too muscular,
really have the cat eyes.
It's like I was the mother or the creator of it.
I saw him on the buses and in the city, everywhere.
When I see him now,
I've kind of gotten used to seeing him around.
I hope he will last a while, so it's nice.
Without putting on any skis or skates,
Lillehammer '94 and 2016
changed Ellef, Britt Elin and Line's lives forever.
(FLAME CATCHERS)
(LILLEHAMMER 1994 MASCOTS)