According to the book The Olympic Marathon (2000), the Olympic marathon route in 1972 corresponded to the shape of the mascot. With the dog’s head to the west, the route started at the neck, and the athletes ran anticlockwise. Waldi was born on 15 December 1969 at a Munich Games Organising Committee Christmas party where those attending were given crayons, sheets of paper and modelling clay with which to produce their mascot designs. Waldi had a real-life alter ego, a dog called Cherie von Birkenhof, which the Munich Games Organising Committee President, Willi Daume, had given to the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) President, Félix Lévitan, in 1970.