Winter Olympics: The story of Hilary Knight and Brittany Bowe’s engagement
“Hilary told everyone she was going on a side quest.” The story of the engagement between Olympic gold medalist Hilary Knight and speed skater Brittany Bowe, as told by a U.S. women’s hockey teammate.
The medal ceremony for the 2026 Winter Olympics will be different from previous Olympic ceremonies. Athletes not only win medals, but also commemorative stuffed animals.
What is the animal in question? Tina the Stoat is one of the official mascots of the Milan-Cortina Games.
This is one of those ideas that sounds great on paper, but when athletes who have dedicated their entire lives to becoming the best in the world at their sport fall short of achieving that goal, many of them may not seem all that excited about getting a stuffed ermine. That’s as evidenced when Canada’s men’s ice hockey team had its animals surrendered after losing in overtime to the United States in the gold medal game.
But what’s going on with these stuffed animals? What is an ermine? And who is “The Flo” they’re supposedly with?
Who is Tina the Stoat? What is “The Flow”?
Tina is one of the mascots for the 2026 Olympics, along with her brother Milo.
The pair are joined by a group of six “sassy” creatures called “The Flo.” According to NBCOlympics.com, “The Flo” is known for “never (leaving) his friends (Tina and Milo).” This group of six people will be split into two groups of three. One represents the Olympics and the other represents the Paralympics.
As has become a recent Olympic tradition, each medalist is given a gift along with their medal. In this example, there are two stuffed animals. Olympic athletes will receive a Tina the Ermine stuffed animal and one matching Flo, and Paralympic athletes will receive a Milo the Ermine stuffed animal and one matching Flo.
What is an ermine?
Stoats are small mammals in the mustelid family, but are most closely related to otters and ferrets. One of the most interesting aspects of ermines is how they change color. In the winter, they follow Tina and turn white to blend in with their surroundings. In the summer, it turns brown and looks more like Milo.
Stoats are native to Eurasia and northern North America. It was also introduced to New Zealand in the 19th century to control rabbit populations, but ultimately had a negative impact on native bird populations.
Males in this population range in length from approximately 7.4 to 12.8 inches, while females are typically slightly smaller at 6.7 to 10.6 inches.
