The choice of the mascot for the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi began back in 2008 with an unofficial vote held by the residents of Sochi. In 2010, an all-Russian vote was held, during which the official mascots were approved. At the same time, the inhabitants of Russia did not stop creating alternative versions of the symbols of the Olympics, some of which also became very popular.
Choosing a mascot
In 2008, the residents of Sochi also chose the Black Sea dolphin on skis as a mascot, designed by the artist Olga Belyaeva. The dolphin was not approved as an official symbol, since the Russians decided that it could not represent the Winter Olympics.
In September 2010, the official All-Russian competition for the mascots of the Sochi Olympics started. More than 24 thousand works from all over Russia came to the address of the organizing committee. People approached the creation of the talisman creatively and even with a fair amount of humor. People's favorites immediately arose, including the mascot Zoich from Evgeny Zhgun from Moscow in the form of a tailless amphibian. Mittens have become no less popular.
A short scandal arose when the contestants tried to promote satirical images through the Internet and at various exhibitions, exposing the Russian authorities of fraud and large-scale embezzlement of budget funds during the construction of Olympic facilities. But the incident was quickly hushed up.
Jury decision
The expert jury did not include abstract and caricature characters in the list of finalists, preferring more serious, but at the same time bright and eye-catching characters. For quite a long time, there have been debates over whether it is worth approving as a candidate for talismans the image of Santa Claus, the authors of which are tourism workers from Volgograd. As a result, he was excluded from the list of applicants, since after the election the mascot of the Olympics should become the property of the International Olympic Committee. Ded Moroz is a well-established symbol of Russia and Russian traditions.
10 candidates for the mascots of the Olympic Games and 3 options for the Paralympic Games took part in the final voting. About one and a half million viewers cast their votes for the mascot of future games. More than 28% of the votes were received by the Snow Leopard or Leopard. 18% of the votes were given to the White Bear, and 16% were received by the Bunny. Thus, the jury decided to select all three characters as the official mascots of the Olympic Games. The organizers did not forget about the Paralympic Games. Snowflake and Ray became their talismans.
