Beijing unveiled a set of five doll mascots for the 2008 Olympic Games Friday evening, exactly 1,000 days before the event's opening ceremony.

The long-anticipated mascots, which embody the natural characteristics of four of China's popular animals -- the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan Antelope, the Swallow -- and the Olympic Flame, were presented at a televised grand ceremony inside the Workers' Gymnasium.

It is the first time more than three images share Summer Olympic mascot duty.

The 2000 Sydney Games featured three animal mascots -- Olly the Kookaburra, Syd the Platypus and Millie the Spiny Anteater.

"We decided to produce five mascots instead of one, because we think no single figure can embody China's profound and diversified culture," said Han Meilin, chief of the mascot designers' group.

Each of the Beijing Olympic mascots has a rhyming two-syllable name -- a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China. Beibei is the Fish, Jingjing is the Panda, Huanhuan is the Olympic Flame, Yingying is the Tibetan Antelope and Nini is the Swallow.

When these names are put together -- Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni -- they say "Welcome to Beijing".

The five elements of nature -- the sea, forest, fire, earth and sky -- can be found in their origins and headpieces, all stylistically rendered in ways that represent the deep traditional influences of Chinese folk art and ornamentation.

Each of the mascots also symbolizes a different blessing -- prosperity, happiness, passion, health and good luck.

The unveiling of the Beijing Olympic mascots also ended a year-long race of hundreds of candidates.

Since the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG) launched a worldwide solicitation in August last year, competition was hot as a handful of areas were vying to have their local symbols picked.

The country's western Qinghai province was pushing the endangered Tibetan antelope. Fujian province presented the South China tiger. Gansu favored the mythical dragon and Jiangsu promoted the legendary Monkey King.

Dozens of artists and designers were called to cut the initial list of mascot entrants from 662 to 56 and finally to six, with the final choice selected by the BOCOG. The International Olympic Committee approved the choice in August.

The first mascot to appear at an Olympic Games was in the 1968 Winter Games in Grenoble, France. But Schuss the skier was not official. The first official mascot was Waldi the Dachshund, who appeared at the Munich Summer Games in 1972.

Mascots of previous summer Olympic Games

Waldi -- mascot of 1972 Olympic Summer Games in Munich, Germany

Waldi, the dachshund. Very popular in Bavaria, but he also possesses qualities which are indispensable to an athlete: resistance, tenacity and agility. These are among the reasons he was chosen to be the mascot. He was dressed in pastel colors to express the gaiety and joy of the Olympic festival.

Amik -- mascot of the 1976 Olympic Summer Games in Montreal, Canada

It was a beaver called Amik, a name taken from the Algonquian language, which is the most popular language amongst the American Indians in Canada. Amik means beaver. The beaver symbolizes hard work.

Misha -- mascot of the 1980 Olympic Summer Games in Moscow

The Moscow Olympic bear Misha was developed by the renowned illustrator of children's books Victor Chizikov. Misha became an instant international success.

Sam -- mascot of the 1984 Olympic Summer Games in Los Angeles, United States

Designed by Walt Disney, Sam is a cartooned Eagle with sheer American characteristics who wears the dress of the legendary American Uncle Sam with a star-spangled background in red, white and blue, typical colors of USA. Commercial use of mascots was initiated henceforth.

Hodori -- mascot of the 1988 Olympic Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea

For the 1988 Olympic Games, which was held in an Oriental country, a little tiger designed by Kim Hyun with typical Oriental color was chosen as the mascot, who was named Hodori. Hodori was designed as an amicable tiger, which portrays the friendly and hospitable traditions of the Koreans. Ho is derived from the Korean word for tiger, and Dori is a diminutive for boys in Korea. The friendly tiger of Seoul wore the Olympic Rings around its neck, much like a medal, while sporting a traditional Korean dance hat on its head.

Cobi -- mascot of the 1992 Olympic Summer Games in Barcelona, Spain

The mascot was a dog named Cobi. The Barcelona Organizing Committee had specially produced a TV series for Cobi to communicate the spirits of the Games. The Valencian artist, Javier Mariscal, created the dog Cobi as official mascot of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.

Izzy -- mascot of the 1996 Olympic Summer Games in Atlanta, United States

Izzy was the first mascot designed by computer. It was an amorphous abstract fantasy figure. It carried the name Izzy, derived from "What iz it?" because no one seemed to know exactly what Izzy really was.

Olly, Syd and Millie -- mascots of the 2000 Olympic Summer Games in Sydney, Australia

Olly, Syd and Millie, designed by Matthew Hattan, are three native Australian animals chosen as mascots for the Sydney 2000 Games. They represent earth, air and water. "Olly", a kookaburra, epitomizes the Olympic spirit of generosity and universal generosity (from Olympic); "Syd", a platypus, represents the environment and captures the vigor and energy of Australia and its people (from Sydney); "Millie", an echidna, is a techno-whiz and information guru, with all the facts and figures at her fingertips (from Millennium).

Athena and Phevos -- mascots of the 2004 Olympic Summer Games in Athens, Greece

The lovely mascots, Athena and Phevos, with their whacking feet, longish necks and puny heads, one in deep yellow and the other in deep blue, are based on dolls, thousands of years old, found at archeological sites in Greece. Greek mythology had it that Phevos and Athena are brother and sister, named after two Greek gods: Phevos, the god of light and music, and Athena, goddess of wisdom and patron of the city of Athens.