Disseny Moles’ proposal, selected as the official mascot of the 19th edition of the Games of the Small States of Europe

Andorra, 9 March, 2020.

The designated jury for the Organising Committee organising the Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE) has announced the winning design for the official mascot of the 19th edition of the Games of the Small States of Europe which will be held in Andorra between 29 May and 5 June, 2021.

The creator of the winning design was Pere Moles, from Moles Disseny, who was pleased with the jury’s decision: “Choosing this character is a brave decision showing the board’s aim to organise games that are modern, rooted to the territory and in line with our times”. The winning design represents “a mascot rooted to the territory and design based on this country’s traditional construction system, being dry stone, and which evokes values such as sturdiness, perseverance and the strength of sportsmen and women in combination with their agility, speed and dexterity”. The winner will also receive €2,000 as a prize and an additional €5,000 to develop the official mascot of the Games.

In second place was a proposal from Taller Creatiu, while in third place a proposal from 9Marketing was chosen. These proposals will receive €1,000 and €750 respectively.

The jury in charge of choosing the winning design from 11 entrants, all from Andorra, was made up of Xavier Espot, Head of Government; Jaume Martí, President of the Andorran Olympic Committee; Justo Ruiz, Sports Secretary of State, Conxita Marsol, Consul Major (Mayor) of Andorra la Vella; Silvia Ferrer, Union Secretary; Josep Maria Cabanes, Vice-President of Andbank state bank and Javier Mariscal, acknowledged designer and creator of, amongst many other designs, the mascot of the ’92 Barcelona Olympic Games.

The jury decided to highlight the bold nature of Moles’ proposal as well as the sense of strength it conveys. According to Mariscal, the selected design “breaks moulds” and “it has enormous strength, which ties in perfectly with the Andorran identity”. On top of which, the acknowledged designer added that “it’s about a mascot that will endure over time and will connect perfectly with all of the general public, but especially with the very young”.

Jaume Martí, President of the Andorran Olympic Committee also signalled his “great satisfaction with the selected design” and he “greatly enjoyed the process of its selection”. For his part, Josep Maria Cabanes, Deputy Director of Andbank state bank expressed “Andbank’s commitment to sport and the values of the Olympic movement are unquestionable, for this reason we are particularly pleased to participate in the organisation of the GSSEs, which will be without doubt a memorable event for the country”.

Selection process of the official mascot’s name

Silvia Riva, Minister for Culture and Sports, took the opportunity to set out the next step in the Games’ organisation, the selection of the official mascot’s name. According to her announcement, those making the proposals will on this occasion be students of between 8 and 12 years of age from the country’s schools. Each school will have to choose the project from one class, which will be the final one to be entered in the competition. Riva assured that “the Games that we are organising have citizen participation as one of the main strategic principles, and with this objective, we want students to be the ones who have the opportunity to select the name of the official mascot of the Games of the Small States of Europe organised by Andorra in 2021”.