Selecting mascot for Sochi Olympics!
Olympics 2014 July 23rd, 2007
I thought I was special. But I guess I’m not… :)
There are a couple of comments from chernyshenko@mtu-net.pp.ru in my previous post on Sochi Olympic mascot, I was wondering if it could possibly be from the Sochi-2014 team. But then found this same text on few other Russian sites, mostly forums and news discussion boards. It’s someone’s way to reach to the Internet community to get as many votes as possible, let’s just hope this “someone” is on Sochi-2014’s organizational team :)
In any event, I’ve translated this list, and added some comments for things that may not be obvious for foreigners, hopefully this helps you understand some of those picks.
So, what do you think should be Sochi’s Olympic mascot?!!
I’ll keep this thread up top for a while, so leave your vote (or you own suggestion) in comments, and i’ll collect and send it to that email when we gat a few votes.
1. Butterfly
2. Snowy Owl
3. Squirrel
4. Vladimir Putin
:)
5. Raven
6. Pigeon/Dove
The symbol of peace
7. Dolphin
We have ’em in Black Sea, and you can sometimes see them in the water near shore.
8. Hedgehog
9. Erushka (fictional character, doesn’t look like anything)
10. Jack rabbit
11. Golden Fish (Russian fairy tale character)
12. The Golden Fleece (from the ancient Greek myth)
The area where Sochi and Abkhazia are, is the location of many ancient Greek myth. See my previous posts:
Will Prometheus bring Olympic fire to Sochi?
More Greek myths for Olympics bid
13. Kolobok (Russian fairy tale character)
14. Crab
Plenty of these in Sochi
15. Crocodile Gena (Russian fictional character)
Best friend of Cheburashka (see #57)
16. Cthulhu
Fictional being created by horror author H. P. Lovecraft. It is popular among Russian-speaking Internet community.
17. Likkimok (fictional character, doesn’t look like anything)
18. Fox
19. Lupoglazik (fictional character, doesn’t look like anything; something with big eyes)
20. Baby Mammoth
Earlier this month a whole Baby Mammoth was discovered in Altai Krai (best preserved to date), in Siberia. I wonder if this how it got on this list.
21. Tangerine
I think after breakup of USSR, Sochi is one of the few places where Tangerines grow.
22. Matreshka
Nesting dolls.
23. Medved
Is an Internet meme; a bear in Wikipedia article for “preved”. Very popular among Russian-speaking Internet community.
24. Caucasian Medved
See #23. Caucasian, probably because because there are a lot of Caucasian-nationalities people live in Sochi. After all, Sochi is in Caucasus.
25. Bear
26. Umka Bear (Russian cartoon character)
27. Bear-alien
28. Bear-80
The mascot of the 1980 Olympics held in Moscow.
29. Mikhail Galustyan
Sochi’s KVN team Super Star
30. Walrus
31. Starfish
32. Sea-horse
I’ve never seen a starfish in Sochi (though I don’t dive), but i’ve seen sea-horses.
33. Mink
34. Sheep
35. Deer
36. Eagle
37. Palm tree
Plenty of these in Sochi :)
38. Pelmen (Ravioli, Siberian syle)
39. Penguin
40. Prometheus (from the ancient Greek myth)
See #12
41. A child, or a kid
42. Wolverine (the animal, not the X-Man character :))
43. Lynx
44. Samovar
45. Bullfinch
It’s like a symbol of winter in Russia.
46. Snowman
47. Snegurochka, or the Snow Maiden
The granddaughter and helper of Ded Moroz, the ‘Russian Santa’.
48. Snow leopard
49. Snowman
50. Snowball
51. Sable
52. Sun
Another thing we have plenty of in Sochi :)
53. Black grouse
54. Flag
55. Herder
56. Sea gull
57. Cheburashka
58. Lizard
We have these in Sochi too.
So, there you have it. Let me know whatchya think!!
July 19th, 2007 at 23:19
The bears are too cliche for Russia and the beach references are simply strange for the winter Olympics. My two favorites are Kolobok and Snegurochka. I can’t wait to see the snow city that they build for the Olympics. I took some snow city pictures in Siberia on my recent trip there.
July 19th, 2007 at 23:41
Nice pics, Russophile :)
Yeah, i agree that beach themes for Winter Olympics won’t work. But I wouldn’t mind some form of bear, is they pick a cute one. I think i actually want Chebu as a mascot, though.
July 20th, 2007 at 14:51
Glad you liked the pictures. I imagine that they will do some amazing ice sculptures for the Olympics. Cheburashka would not be a bad choice, but they might have to pay for the rights to use it.
July 20th, 2007 at 23:45
I doubt that will be an issue as Chebu is currently Olympic team’s mascot. Im sure they’ll work something out if needed.
July 21st, 2007 at 5:35
thanks for translation
please send suggestions to chernyshenko@mtu-net.pp.ru
July 21st, 2007 at 5:37
the newest version of the listlooks like this:
Обзор предложений, поступивших на адрес chernyshenko@mtu-net.pp.ru
В настоящее время на адрес chernyshenko@mtu-net.pp.ru поступило 104 сообщения, предлагающих те или иные варианты символа (талисмана) Олимпиады-2014 в Сочи.
Некоторые из этих сообщений содержат сразу несколько предложений.
В итоге предложены следующие варианты:
1. Бабочка
2. Белая сова
3. Белка
4. Владимир Путин
5. Ворон
6. Голубь
7. Дельфин
8. Домовёнок Кузя
9. Ёжик
10. Ерушка (вымышленный персонаж, ни на кого не похож)
11. Заяц
12. Золотая Рыбка
13. Золотое Руно
14. Избушка на курьих ножках
15. Колобок
16. Краб
17. Крокодил Гена
18. Ктулху
19. Ликкимок (вымышленный персонаж, ни на кого не похож)
20. Лиса
21. Лупоглазик (вымышленный персонаж, ни на кого не похож)
22. Мамонтёнок
23. Мандарин
24. Матрёшка
25. Медвед
26. Медвед-кавказец
27. Медведь
28. Медведь Умка
29. Медведь-инопланетянин
30. Медвежонок-80
31. Михаил Галустян
32. Морж
33. Морская звезда
34. Морской конёк
35. Норка
36. Овца
37. Олень
38. Орёл
39. Пальма
40. Пельмень
41. Пингвин
42. Прометей
43. Ребёнок
44. Росомаха
45. Рысь
46. Самовар
47. Самовар
48. Снегирь
49. Снеговик
50. Снегурочка
51. Снежный барс
52. Снежный человек
53. Снежок
54. Соболь
55. Солнце
56. Тетерев
57. Флаг
58. Чабан
59. Чайка
60. Чебурашка
61. Ящерица
Просим обсудить эти предложения на Ваших страницах, новые предложения просьба присылать на адрес chernyshenko@mtu-net.pp.ru .
С уважением,
chernyshenko@mtu-net.pp.ru
July 21st, 2007 at 18:04
I did not realize that Cheburashka was was already the Olympic team’s mascot. I excluded Cheburashka on the assumption that the licensing might break the deal, so please add Cheburashka to my favorites. :)
July 23rd, 2007 at 21:56
my pleasure :) i’ll send whatever accumulates here when we get more responses.
Russophile,
yeah, they’ve used it in Torino, you didn’t see it? only it was white – winter “tuning” :)
Only two new things in new list, both are probably too Russian for foreigners to pick :)
They are
“House with legs”, from Russian folk tale.
and
“Kuzya, the house-spirit”, from Russian cartoon
July 27th, 2007 at 4:49
I was told they chose a Dolphin as Mascot…. is it final?
July 28th, 2007 at 18:31
nah, not final. i’ve read the other popular ones are Baby Mammoth and Snow Leopard (there was an article where a few selebrities showed thir support for this one)
November 4th, 2007 at 17:45
Cheburashka looks good or maybe Golden Fish that meant to take all golden medals.
Hey friends, I am looking for cuisine. She lives in Sochi, her name Tanya Kolobova or Dianova. Sher is close to 50. Could you help me anyone? How do I go about finding someone in Sochi? Living in California for Centuries make me feel like Cheburashka who does not know anything anymore.
Cheers
Love, Mariya
November 4th, 2007 at 20:55
Mariya, if you know Russian, I can give you a couple of forums you can try posing on. If you don’t , I can do it for you. Just thow the info out there, you never know.
You don’t know what her last name is? Any other info would be most helpfull, like last time of contact, how do you know she still lives there, where approximately (district maybe) – Sochi’s a city of 450,000.
Unfortunatelly there are no whitepages, or even phonebooks online for Sochi.
January 3rd, 2008 at 6:41
Hello,
The answer is the bear Misha – 80. We are waitig him fliyig back from his magic forest. He left us with tears on his face in Moscow 1980 but he will come back with a big smile in Sochi 2014.
Just checking some videos of Moscow-80 in the net I am sure that this is the spontaneous, natural expectation of many people around the world and the best option for Sochi 2014.
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:09
off, 2 mariya:
to find anyone in sochi you can try http://www.eva.ru
they have regional communities and often help to find people – i have a positive experience of this kind
August 9th, 2008 at 23:06
57. Cheburashka should win
August 14th, 2008 at 10:23
Bears are clishe? I don’t think so :-) I think Misha from 1980 or Cheburashka should be the mascot. They are just adorable!!!
September 27th, 2008 at 9:46
THE BEST BEAR IN THE WORLD……..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
September 27th, 2008 at 9:47
MICHA FOR EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!111!!!<33333
April 17th, 2009 at 16:52
I think a good mascot would be a Russian granny in a shawl.
May 26th, 2009 at 17:00
Hmm… how about either a Russian Blue or Siberian cat in a papakha?
February 18th, 2010 at 8:20
Vladimir Putin!
February 25th, 2010 at 2:14
Mascot for Sochi 2014….
There can be only one…
And he is…
FATOV!!
March 1st, 2010 at 5:46
I like the snowy owl idea.
March 3rd, 2010 at 9:17
Raven
March 6th, 2010 at 18:35
Bear of course!! How much more Russian, other than Vodka can you get?
March 20th, 2010 at 4:56
Reliving Misha Bear(30) is good. But I think… Dolphin is a little good idea. I can only hope the People of Sochi City Relive Misha with a couple of Dolphin.
August 17th, 2010 at 23:20
Cheburashka all the way :] Ill be shocked if they dont pick him!
July 10th, 2011 at 10:37
Listening to the alternatives that you considered, but didn’t choose might be a ton more beneficial. That way we might be experiencing much more of your thinking you did instead of (just) the final result :)