[Archive 2007-09-29] Support strong to bring back 1980 Soviet mascot for the 2014 Olympics

Historical archive — originally published 2007-09-29. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.

For the first time after the fall of the iron curtain Russia will host the Olympic Games – in 2014 the Winter Olympics will take place in Sochi, a Black Sea resort town. The games are considered a matter of national prestige and generate more media attention than the recent changes in Russian government (Russia’s Putin recently installed the new prime-minister, who, incidentally, also became the chair of the Russian Olympic committee.)

As Russia takes enormous efforts to prepare for the Olympics and build a modern sport infrastructure from scratch, the Russian public is more concerned with the mascot for the upcoming games. When Moscow hosted the Summer Olympics in the 1980, the mascot for the Moscow Games was Misha the Bear, developed by children’s book illustrator Victor Chizhikov. Misha instantly became a graphic-design hit, especially in the Soviet bloc. Olympic posters were snatched up and t-shirts were fought over. And as Sochi is set to become the new Olympic city, Russians are keen to see the old bear return.

It has not been decided, however, on the Sochi Games mascot. Another option is Cheburashka, a famous Russian cartoon character with big ears and humble smile. Cheburashka was the mascot for the Russian Olympic team in Turin and is one of the best-selling children’s toys in former USSR countries and, surprisingly, Japan, where it is known as “Chebu”.

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Text adapted from Support strong to bring back 1980 Soviet mascot for the 2014 Olympics by Wikinews contributors under CC BY 2.5. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. Contributor history.