Olympic Winners Get Plush Panda then Medal

Miho Takagi of Japan waves during a ceremony after winning the silver medal in the women's speedskating 1,500-meter race at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, in Beijing. (AP)
Miho Takagi of Japan waves during a ceremony after winning the silver medal in the women's speedskating 1,500-meter race at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, in Beijing. (AP)
TT
20

Olympic Winners Get Plush Panda then Medal

Miho Takagi of Japan waves during a ceremony after winning the silver medal in the women's speedskating 1,500-meter race at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, in Beijing. (AP)
Miho Takagi of Japan waves during a ceremony after winning the silver medal in the women's speedskating 1,500-meter race at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, in Beijing. (AP)

When most champions get off the slopes or the ice at the Beijing Olympics, they are handed Bing Dwen Dwen, the chubby panda mascot of the Games.

Where are the medals? They usually come later at a special ceremony — a system introduced in 1988 at the Calgary Games.

But immediately after competition, the winning athletes in Beijing receive a plush toy panda, stuffed inside a plastic shell that is meant to represent ice. Bing, in fact, means ice in Chinese. The toy is also adorned with a golden wreath.

Canadian snowboarder Mark McMorris won his third Olympic bronze medal on Monday and said he loved the prize that came with it.

“I always claimed back in the day that my spirit animal is a panda. I love pandas,” he said.

A similar ritual unfolded at the Pyeongchang Games four years ago. There, immediately after winning gold, silver or bronze, medalists got Soohorang, a striped white tiger that served as the mascot for those Games.

The tradition of giving a mascot to the winners has existed for more than a decade at the Youth Olympics.



Many US Ice Cream Producers to Phase Out Artificial Food Dyes by 2028

Volunteers scoop ice cream before a press conference on the steps of the United States Department of Agriculture on July 14, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/AFP)
Volunteers scoop ice cream before a press conference on the steps of the United States Department of Agriculture on July 14, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/AFP)
TT
20

Many US Ice Cream Producers to Phase Out Artificial Food Dyes by 2028

Volunteers scoop ice cream before a press conference on the steps of the United States Department of Agriculture on July 14, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/AFP)
Volunteers scoop ice cream before a press conference on the steps of the United States Department of Agriculture on July 14, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/AFP)

Dozens of US ice cream producers are planning to remove artificial colors from their products by 2028, a dairy industry group and government officials said on Monday.

The producers, which together represent more than 90% of ice cream sold in the US, are the latest food companies to take voluntary steps to remove dyes since Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in April said the US aimed to phase out many synthetic dyes from the country's food supply.

Several major food manufacturers, including General Mills, Kraft Heinz, J.M. Smucker, Hershey and Nestle USA, have previously announced their plans to phase out synthetic food coloring.

The 40 ice cream companies will remove Red 3, Red 40, Green 3, Blue 1, Blue 2, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 from their retail products, excluding non-dairy products, according to the International Dairy Foods Association.

The IDFA announced the plan at an event at the US Department of Agriculture headquarters on Monday with Kennedy, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

"We know that our current health outcomes, especially for our children, are unsustainable and that American agriculture is at the heart of the solution to make America healthy again," Rollins said at the event, referencing a slogan aligned with Kennedy.

Rollins and Kennedy have worked closely together on food sector efforts like encouraging states to ban soda from the nation's largest food aid program.

Kennedy has blamed food dyes for rising rates of ADHD and cancer, an area many scientists say requires more research.

The IDFA said artificial dyes are safe, but that ice cream makers are taking the step in part to avoid disruption to sales from state efforts to phase out dyes from school foods and West Virginia's recent food dye ban.