Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat

Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat was an unofficial mascot of the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics. He was a wombat with a lazy, cheerful expression and a comically pronounced rump. Fatso was a spoof of the official Olympic mascots Olly, Millie, and Syd. He was more popular among Australian fans than the official mascots. He appeared with gold medalists Susie O'Neill, Grant Hackett and the Australian men's 4×200-metre relay team on the winners' dais. He even appeared on an official commemorative postage stamp. During the Olympics, the Australian Olympic Committee attempted to ban athletes from appearing with Fatso. The ensuing public relations disaster forced the president of the AOC and the director general of the IOC to distance their organisations from these attempts. In keeping with Fatso's role as a protest against the commercialisation of Olympic mascots, only two Fatsos were officially produced. At the end of the Olympics, one of the Fatsos was auctioned for the Olympic Aid charity, selling for A $80,450. Fatso is currently housed in a glass box in Kerry Stokes' North Sydney office.