The mascot of the Moscow Olymics was chosen with the help of a public opinion poll conducted jointly by the editorial boards of the TV programme "V mire zhivotnykh" (Animal World) and the newspaper Sovetski Sport (Soviet Sport). The majority of the 45,000 letters received suggested a bear. A group of artists, recommended by the Artists`Union of the USSR, worked out 60 graphic versions. The bear - called Misha - submitted by artist V. Chizhikov from Moscow, was selected as the mascot of the Moscow Games. Chizhikov`s design was translated into several graphic representations- one in contour (author V. Stupin), one adapted for the different sports (E. Migunov), and a three-dimensional model (V. Ropov). (Source document: Official
Report 1980, vol. II, page 419) |
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