BEIJING, China — It sits in the stands at Winter Olympics figure skating events, possibly reminding those in attendance that what they'd really like is a salty snack.
We're talking about the German figure skating team's mascot, an inflatable pretzel with the German flag wrapped around the bottom that has become a bit of a celebrity on social media.
The pretzel, or "Brezel" in German, is hard to miss. It looks to be about 3 feet tall and just as wide, and it goes everywhere the German skaters go, through the highs and lows of Olympic competition.
It made its first appearance at the team event, though it didn't bring the German team much luck. They were eliminated early in the competition after finishing last in the men's short program and ice dance rhythm dance portions of the competition.
It made another appearance at the rhythm dance portion of the ice dancing competition to help the German team cheer on Katharina Mueller and Tim Dieck. Unfortunately for them, Mueller and Dieck finished 21st, which was one spot out of qualifying for the free dance portion of the event.
On Tuesday at the women's short skate competition, the pretzel returned, as Nicole Schott finished in 14th and made the cut to compete in the free skate.
The pretzel will likely make another appearance at the women's free skate Thursday in Beijing.
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