On August 3, 1980, the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games took place in Moscow, during which the mascot of the 1980 Olympics, the Olympic Bear, was launched into the sky. He was escorted with tears in his eyes to a song performed by Lev Leshchenko and Tatyana Antsiferova from the center of the Luzhniki stadium arena by Muscovites and guests of the capital.
The history of creating the image of the Olympic Bear began in 1977, when a population survey was conducted in the country through the “In the Animal World” program and the editors of the “Soviet Sport” newspaper, where viewers were asked to choose the symbol of the Olympics. Almost unanimously, preference was given to the bear cub Misha. After the image of the mascot was approved, an order was placed with the best artists in the country. The final version was made by children's book illustrator Viktor Aleksandrovich Chizhikov. His version among the 60 cubs that reached the finals was also liked by the IOC President of that time, Lord Kilanin. The organizing committee of the Moscow Olympics chose this animal as a symbol, since it has such qualities characteristic of an athlete as strength, perseverance and courage.
For the Olympic Games, a six-meter rubber mascot was created - the Olympic Bear balloon. Initially, it was planned to be manufactured in Moscow at the Research Institute of the Rubber Industry, but due to the large dimensions of the Mishka, the manufacturing process was transferred to a branch of the institute located in Zagorsk (now Sergiev Posad). For testing and in case of unforeseen circumstances, two duplicates were made.
According to the organizers, the Olympic Bear was supposed to fly high into the sky during the closing ceremony. In April 1979, in the town of Zhukovsky near Moscow, work began on the “Bear” project at the Central Aero-Hydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI). A group of scientists was tasked with ensuring that the talisman rose into the air. The bear didn’t just have to fly vertically above the stadium. Having reached a certain height (3.5 m from the top edge of the stands), he had to leave the stadium as quickly as possible without touching the bowl with the Olympic flame.
At first, engineer Alexander Trusov suggested abandoning the doll and dressing the person in a bear costume, tying him to balloons inflated with helium. The test took place at the Kubinka-2 airfield near Moscow. Trusov himself went to the test and put on a suit (it was made at a fur toy factory in the Ukrainian city of Zhovti Vody) and went into flight. The first flight was successful, after which it was decided to conduct the next experiment in conditions as close as possible to the required ones: twilight, an increase of 30 meters (the height of the Luzhniki stands). But this time, at an altitude of one hundred meters, the Olympic Bear suddenly turned around, flew 50 meters, and then began to sharply go up, disappearing from sight.
After this, engineers developed a system of so-called “carrying balls”. Its essence was as follows: by moving in a certain way, the balls contributed to a shift in the center of gravity of the object (the Bear), which, in turn, made it possible to control the direction of flight with a sufficient degree of accuracy. Moving in a certain way, the balloons shifted the center of gravity of the object in the desired direction. The operator in the cockpit had to control the direction of the flight in his right hind paw. But while testing this option, the doll lost control, flew over the burning Olympic torch and burst into flames. Engineer Igor Artamonov, who was sitting in the cockpit, died from his burns. Then it was decided to attach the balls only to the upper paws and ears so that the bear would not roll over.
“The Olympic Bear is a symbol of the Moscow Olympics. How much more charming and humane he was than the monotonously beautiful and purposeful posters of the “builders of communism”! And how the story of the birth of the Olympic mascot and his subsequent fate are characteristic of that time! When he flew into the Moscow sky under the storm the soulful song of Pakhmutova and Dobronravov, even the most inveterate cynics had tears in their eyes. Two billion people around the world watched the most touching closing ceremony of the Games in the history of the Olympics. And almost no one knew what happened next to such a cute Mishka. And he landed on the outskirts of Moscow, he knocked over a beer booth, scaring two local "uncles" to death. Then for some time he was exhibited at VDNKh, next to other achievements of the Soviet national economy (record-breaking cows, the monster-like "Kirovets" tractor and the Olympic Mishka - there are something to be proud of for the national economy!) At that time, one West German company offered to buy a rubber Teddy Bear for 100 thousand marks. Naive Germans! The Soviets have their own pride, which is not sold for despicable Deutschmarks! The bear from VDNKh was sent to one of the basements of the USSR Olympic Committee, where it stood until... it was eaten by rats."
(A. Khoroshevsky. 100 famous symbols of the Soviet era.)
Loading...