Marcel Hirscher from Austria won the opener at the 2018 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup on November 18 and received a special trophy, a reindeer.
The animal is not only a local feature for tourism attractions in Finland, but also part of the traditional trophy for the Alpine Ski World Cup. Hirscher christened his latest reindeer Mr. Snow while the other two he has are named Leo and Ferdinand.
A Japanese women's curling team receives beef and garlic for awards after winning a domestic tournament. /VCG Photo
Reindeer is actually not the most peculiar award in winter sports. In a domestic curling tournament in Japan in May, the winning team received 200 kilograms of beef and garlic as part of their award, because those are the main products of the sponsor.
Beef is actually a very popular award choice in sporting events, including eSports and golf in Japan, which is understandable, since the country's home-grown beef has been well-known for its quality.
Dario Cologna of Switzerland won two gold medals in cross-country skiing at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and later received a pig from mayor of Davos as a gift. /VCG Photo
Switzerland has been even more creative. After the country's Dario Cologna won two gold medals in cross-country skiing at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, mayor of Davos, a skiing resort town, gave him a pig for prize. Cologna later named his new friend "Sochi."
Cologna was not the only Swiss athlete who received an animal for their performance. Having won his first Wimbledon title in 2003, Roger Federer got a cow from the organizer of the Swiss Open for gift and that's where his popular nickname "Cow" in China came from.