Perry was the official mascot of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. The organisers named him Perry after Perry Barr, the area of Birmingham where the games' primary venue, Alexander Stadium is located. He is a bull in reference to Birmingham's historic Bull Ring market. Perry's sports kit relates to the sports of the Commonwealth Games and his medal is meant to symbolise Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter. His skin is emblazoned with multicoloured hexagons, to represent equality, diversity and the strength of the Commonwealth family.[1]
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The design was inspired by Emma Lou, a ten-year-old girl who won a national competition in 2020.[2][3][4] Emma was also the first person to see Perry in full mascot costume.[5] The competition was launched by a former Olympic athlete and gold medal winner, Denise Lewis.[6] Emma received lavish praise for creating "the perfect Games mascot for celebrations across the city, the country and the Commonwealth".[7]
The costumed version of the mascot was engaged in outreach in the run-up to the games, such as on a visit to Wilson Stuart School in Perry Common,[8] House of Commons[9] and a visit to 10 Downing Street where he was accused of photobombing a Sky News report on the day of a confidence vote in Conservative leader Boris Johnson.[10] A plushie version of Perry accompanied the Queen's Baton on its 2021–22 relay around the Commonwealth.[11]
Perry’s Trail, a city-wide mascot trail of 17 Perry statues and eight digital avatars, was launched a week before the opening ceremony to celebrate the games.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Explore Perry's Features". Commonwealth Games – Birmingham 2022. Archived from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
- ^ "Perry the Bull: Mascot revealed for Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games". Sky Sports. 22 March 2021. Archived from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
- ^ "10-year-old British-Malaysian girl behind C'wealth Games 2022 official mascot". The Star. 25 March 2021. Archived from the original on 25 March 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
- ^ "Commonwealth Games: Birmingham 2022 mascot revealed". BBC News. 2021-03-22. Archived from the original on 2022-07-11. Retrieved 2022-07-11.
- ^ @birminghamcg22 (March 22, 2021). "We received hundreds of awesome entries to our #MascotMakers competition – but there could only be one winner". Retrieved January 30, 2024 – via Instagram.
- ^ Rodger, James (22 March 2021). "Birmingham Commonwealth Games mascot announced as Perry the Bull". BirminghamLive. Archived from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
- ^ "Birmingham 2022 unveils Perry's Trail – a city-wide mascot trail to celebrate the Games". Commonwealth Games – Birmingham 2022. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
- ^ Baker Sullivan, Jobe (2 June 2022). "Commonwealth Games 2022 mascot Perry the Bull visits Wilson Stuart School". Erdington Local. Archived from the original on 2 June 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
- ^ "Commonwealth Games mascot visits the House of Commons". Politics.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2022-08-06. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
- ^ Jones, Brigid. "I love our @birminghamcg22 mascot Perry, and I couldn't love him more than in this photo bomb". Twitter. Archived from the original on 6 June 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
- ^ "The Queen's Baton Relay in Norfolk Island". Commonwealth Games – Birmingham 2022. Archived from the original on 5 April 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.