Daniel Ståhl won a highly dramatic WC gold.
Before the eyes of “Youhuu”.
Now the WC mascot is being sawed for the behavior during the discus final.
“Someone should have given him a blue streak,” writes athletics coach René Sack.
It was impossible to wish for a more dramatic discus final than the one we got to see during the WC. With the penultimate throw of the competition, Kristjan Ceh got a monster hit, which measured over 70 meters. Daniel Ståhl had the knife to his throat, but responded by setting a new championship record, and that was enough for a second straight WC gold.
Unexpected giant criticism
But not everyone was completely satisfied with what we got to see during the discus final. Admittedly, there was nothing wrong with the drama or the ending, but at home on the TV sofa, the German athletics coach René Sack was saddened. Not over throwing techniques or the behavior of the practitioners – but the mascot Youhuu. Youhuu was noticed several times during the championship, not least the time he snuck up behind a couch to scare the unsuspecting Anthonique Strachanen, who jumped in fear.
Youhuu has sometimes been praised for its cheeky way of being, when it scared participants, held up funny signs and was generally seen a lot. But on Instagram, René Sack is now raging against the mascot’s behavior. He is particularly angry about the behavior towards Daniel Ståhl and the others in the discus final. Sack accuses the mascot of “body shaming”, when he held up a sign asking participants if they want to be part of a bikini contest.
“It might sound funny, but not when you’re an athlete down by the track. Someone should have given him a blackmail,” writes Sack.
READ MORE: Lasse Granqvist speaks straight from the heart in his tribute to Daniel Ståhl – and sticks his chin out properly: “I actually claim that…”
“Bad stereotypes”
However, Sack believes that the grossest violation came during the women’s shot put final, when Youhuu walked out wearing a sumo wrestling suit.
“Why do that? It’s a bad stereotype and an old image of strong women that doesn’t belong today. They may be bigger and stronger than “normal women”, but definitely not overweight. What these athletes do is nothing short of unparalleled, so why mock them?” he writes.
Sack also didn’t find it particularly funny when Youhuu scared a participant.
“It’s not good – and a clear reaction to it could have caused a serious accident”.
In conclusion, Sack writes:
“I like being entertained by a cool mascot, but this year the jokes have been bad, and at times far too offensive and personal.”
READ MORE: Daniel Ståhl’s completely clever answer to the unexpected question after the WC gold success: “That was fun”