Turin unveiled on Tuesday two mascots, Neve and Gliz, for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in the northern Italian city.

Neve is a grinning girl snowball, with long lashes and a sole tooth, and Gliz is her boyish counterpart, with a more stocky, blue body.

The cartoon-style characters' unveiling is the first of a series of major marketing events for the 20th Winter Olympics, which will be held from February 10-26, 2006.

"With this, I think that the Games have begun," said Valentino Castellani, president of Turin's Olympic Organizing Committee shortly after an animated film showing Neve and Gliz speed-skating,skiing and snow-boarding together.

Tuesday marked 500 days to the start of the Games. On November 4, Italy will launch ticket sales and organizers will hold a torch relay in Rome on December 7.

(Xinhua News Agency September 29, 2004)