The official face of the 2011 IIHF World Championship is ready to lead the championship. On Thursday April 29th 2010 – exactly a year before the historic first championship hosted by slovakia kicks off – the mascot for the largest sporting event in the history of the independent republic received its name: ‘Goooly’.

A statue of the official mascot was unveiled at a hockey gala event in Bratislava by IIHF 2011 WM OC Chairman Igor Nemecek and Radio Expres general director Eva Babitzova.

The man who came up with the name for the official mascot adorned in the Slovak national team top was Peter Hanzlík from Michalovce. His submission was the winner, selected from among some 14 504 other submissions in a competition organised by the IIHF 2011 WM Organizing Committee in collaboration with Radio Expres. The winning entry earns Mr Hanzlik two exclusive VIP passes to all of the games in the championship courtesy of the organisers.

The mascot creator is PETER HREVUS - the art director for Vaculik Advertising.

During the evening original countdown timers were set off in both venue cities, counting down the remaining days until the championship starts. In Bratislava the Goooly mascot statue was situated near the Carlton hotel on Hviezdoslav square, and in Košice tourists have the opportunity of having their photographs taken alongside the mascot on the main street.

The IIHF World Championship – which is set to take place between April 2011th and May 29th is to feature 2011 of the world’s best teams and will be the largest sporting event ever held in the history of the country. “We are aware that after this years championship in Germany the entire hockey world will have its eyes on Slovakia. I believe that we will put together a very good championship”, stated Igor Nemecek.