The key to being an Olympic mascot handler, it seems, is knowing your mascot's weakness.
For Joy Peterson, the handler and bodyguard for the large American black bear named "Coal," it is teenagers.
"They think because he's big they can tackle him, or knock him down," she said.
The mascots represent the Olympic motto of "swifter, higher, stronger." And Coal, who is larger then the other two mascots, a snowshoe hare and a coyote, is supposed to be the "stronger."
But when the crowd gets rough, Peterson gets going.
A quick pull on Coal's furry arm is all Peterson needs to guide the bear to safety. "They're not as rough with the other two," Peterson says.
Coal is not pouting, however. He's seen what Powder, the rabbit, and Copper, the coyote, have to deal with.
With her large feet, round middle, whiskers and small stature, Powder, representing "swifter," seems like a figment out of the collective childhood imagination.
Peterson remembers watching a little girl put her arm around the rabbit, stick her thumb in her mouth and fall asleep.
Still, Powder is not without her own trials. "They keep pulling her tail," Donnette Speth says.
The puff-ball of a tail, which is about head-high to a 2-year-old, apparently proves irresistible to the curious young girls who, Speth says, are Powder's biggest fans.
The rabbit's ears have also proven somewhat unwieldy. Powder has a tendency to forget that her true height extends some 2 feet above the top of her head.
"We were walking through a doorway and her ear got caught," Speth says. "We had to go get first aid."
Compared with Copper the coyote, however, Powder may as well count her blessings. At least no one questions their place in the animal kingdom. Copper's handler Judy Meyer says many haven't been able to guess the mascot is a coyote.
Also apparently puzzling is the mascot's connection with "higher," the Olympic characteristic the animal is supposed to represent.
A snowshoe hare is obviously "swifter," and a bear is obviously stronger, Meyer says. "But how is a coyote 'higher?' "
Meyer says her mascot is unfazed by the ambiguity. "He's very confident," she said.
The handlers are responsible for making sure anyone who wants a hug gets one, thus maintaining the mascots' reputation. "We have to be careful not to offend anyone," says mascot manager Jeff Winegar.
Each mascot has a special signal to let the handlers know when it's time to take a break, which comes about every 30 minutes.
After receiving the signal, it's the handler's job to get the mascots to any one of the several "green rooms" throughout Olympic Square, where the mascots can rest.
E-MAIL: joliver@desnews.com