Mascot of the year: Berlino the Bear Everyone's favourite Usain Bolt impressionist...

 Tom Lamont The Observer,

Sunday 15 November 2009

Who knows what it said in his brief? (We imagine something along the lines of, "Remember! There are no limits!") But the actor playing Berlino the Bear, official man-in-costume of the World Athletics Championships this summer, roamed freer in Berlin's Olympic Stadium than any mascot in memory. And a fortnight of mischief made him an unexpected star. Was the best moment Berlino giving a piggyback to Melanie Walker, running millions pounds worth of Jamaican athlete straight into the back of the truck collecting the hurdles? Or was it his ingenuity for edging into shot whenever Usain Bolt broke a record and posed beside his big clock? Not that the Jamaican seemed to mind: he further enhanced the bear's renown by training in a homemade T-shirt showing a picture of the bear and the legend: "Ich bin ein Berlino".