Pokljuka - The 2021 Biathlon World Championships, scheduled to take place in Pokljuka on 9-21 February next year, will have a new and special mascot in Jurček the Gnome, who is joining the chamois as the informal mascot of all biathlon competitions on the Alpine plateau in north-western Slovenia.

"Pokljuka is situated amidst pristine nature and the chamois, the mascot of competitions at Pokljuka, has symbolised the connection and image of co-existence with nature from the very beginnings," the organising committee said on Tuesday.

It added that, since the Biathlon World Championships will be the largest winter sports event in Slovenia ever, it had decided to present a new mascot for the occasion.

The gnome from the woods of Pokljuka, called Jurček, is a "friend of the chamois and the hero of a story that brings a message of the importance of nature protection, exercise and sports to young generations," the organisers added.

Jurček the Gnome is featured in a new picture book, called the Treasure of Pokljuka Gnomes, which has been made especially for the event hosted by Pokljuka in February next year. It was written by Žiga X. Gombač and illustrated by Gorazd Vahen.