Citius Altius Fortius Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 It is decided: Snow leopard, snow hare and polar bear are the mascots for the Olympic Winter Games The Ray of Light and the Snowflake are the mascots for the Winter Paralympics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athan Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 What a disappointment! The Paralympic mascots are perfect, but the Olympic ones are totally random and not related one to the others... Individually they work well, but the three of them together look kind of weird. Only one design would have been much better in my opinion. Also, these will be the first Paralympic Winter Games with two mascots, won't they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faster Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 I think I am more disappointed because they picked animals (the polar bear and Norway, the snow leopard and the -Stans) that have no connection to Russia. They are also kinda bland without a lot of personality. Hopefully Sochi continues with the strong mascot media that Vancouver and London did/are doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Rols Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 Well, actually, I'm the other way round. I quite like the Olympic mascots - I just prefer animals to humanoids usually _ and they all sit well alongside each other IMO. Though, I probably would have preferred just the one for the spotlight to focus on. As for the para ones, well, even though I'm not overly fond of these human-like ones, I concede these ones are nicely executed - much better than the likes of Neve and Glitz and Athena and Phevos. Have they all got (Russian) names yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faster Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 Well, actually, I'm the other way round. I quite like the Olympic mascots - I just prefer animals to humanoids usually _ and they all sit well alongside each other IMO. Though, I probably would have preferred just the one for the spotlight to focus on. As for the para ones, well, even though I'm not overly fond of these human-like ones, I concede these ones are nicely executed - much better than the likes of Neve and Glitz and Athena and Phevos. Have they all got (Russian) names yet? Norwegirovich, Kazakhstova and Canavich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobase2010 Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 I like the paralympic mascots, very different. The Olympic mascots reminds me of the Salt lake mascots (Bear, fox & rabbit). The Polare bear looks like an albino version of Moscow's Olympic mascot, Misha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikarus360 Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 Good mascots but completly unrelated each other, which is what itches me more. But a lot of people on the forums will probably be glad that the snow leopard got choosen . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olympian2004 Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 Strange choice, and very unexpected for me. I always thought that the Russian public chooses only one mascot each for the Olympics and the Paralympics! The Paralympic mascots fit each other, but you can see that the Olympic mascots are from different designers each and that makes the choice look very random and loveless -- just like Sochi's logo. And while the Paralympic mascots fit each other, they are of course completely disjoined from the Olympic mascots, designwise. Vancouver did that much better where you had the feeling that the Olympic and Paralympic mascots belong to the same "family". No, Sochi still manages to underwhelm me a lot in term of its design elements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afiqnadzir Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 i love the paralympic mascot!nice..modern and dynamic..also look friendship,related,nature,compete and many more..best mascot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 (Polar) bear and snow hare are OUTRIGHT copies of Salt Lake's Coal and Powder!! Ray of Light and Snowflake are CORNY; only a little better designed than Neve and Glitz...but essentially such underwhelming mascots. It's all London's fault...with their "drops of steel" business...see what Sochi has to follow!! Does Sochi even have a design person??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattygs Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 So, are these the actual mascots, or are they what the actual mascots will be inspired from? Im guessing these images will be given to a professional company who will tweak them? Really do think the singular mascot works better, two at the most - glad the snow leopard got in though. I hear the Father Frost character was pulled at the last minute after the OC realised if it won, the IOC would have full intellectual property rights of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenadian Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 Yes, very much repeated themes here. Hope they at least give the animal characters a few retouches so they have some familial look. Their eyes are all so very different and the rabbit's whiskers could use a shave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkiFreak Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 Not a bad choice. Much better than those one-eyed monsters London's got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 So, are these the actual mascots, or are they what the actual mascots will be inspired from? Im guessing these images will be given to a professional company who will tweak them? Really do think the singular mascot works better, two at the most - glad the snow leopard got in though. I would hope so. I mean all those pointy little things on Ray of Light's head will just not play out in doll-form. You're gonna have a lot of kids with punctured fingers if that's the way it's going to be. And no names yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkiFreak Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 I wonder if at the closing ceremonies they'll strap a bunch of balloons to the polar bear and let him fly... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citius Altius Fortius Posted February 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 I like the Paraympics mascots as well as the Olympic ones, but what I don't like at the Olympic mascots is that the Kaukasus is neither the habitat of polar bears, snow hares nor snow leopards, therewith Sochi has no connection with these three animals... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pure facts Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 Actually, the snow leopards are being re-introduced in the Sochi area as part of the Sochi 2014 sustainability programme (as regularly communicated). For the rest, the Russian government is seeing the Sochi 2014 Games as a national project. This probably explains why the mascots were selected by a national vote and that the results are symbols of Russia rather than Sochi's region only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faster Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 Actually, the snow leopards are being re-introduced in the Sochi area as part of the Sochi 2014 sustainability programme (as regularly communicated). For the rest, the Russian government is seeing the Sochi 2014 Games as a national project. This probably explains why the mascots were selected by a national vote and that the results are symbols of Russia rather than Sochi's region only. But they aren't symbols of Russia. If you asked the average Canadian/America/German/Brit to name an animal to represent Russia a polar bear, snow leopard or 'snow hare' (which is kinda ambiguous since it would have to be the Mountain Hare, otherwise why would they pick a hare that is only found in NA) The animal most associated with Russia is the Brown Bear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athan Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 Taken from the official 2014 Games website (full report here): At 11.20 pm (GTM+3 hours) the final results of the vote were announced. The election council made the decision that thetop-three characters with maximum number of votes would all become the Olympic Winter Games mascots: the Polar Bear, the Hare and the Leopard. The honour of selecting the Paralympic Winter Games mascot was given to the Paralympic champions. After a period of deliberation, representatives of the Paralympic Movement - the Paralympic Games champion and the general secretary of Russian Paralympic committee Mikhail Terentiev, the Paralympic champion and the Sochi 2014 Ambassador Olesya Vladykina, and Paralympic sportsmen Alexander Alyabyev, Vladimir Kiselyov, Margarita Koptilova, Xenia Ovsyannikova and Igor Pustovit – have named Ray of Light and Snowflake as the Paralympic Winter Games mascots. So the Paralympic mascots weren't chosen by the Russian population but by Paralympic athletes. Also, it seems the Ray of Light and the Snowflake have been designed by different people, and that's a bit confusing because they are so similar, and weren't they competing as a "single" mascot couple? The authors are: • Oleg Serdechniy, 1957, Sochi (the White bear), • Vadim Pak, 1977, Nakhodka (the Leopard), • Silviya Petrova, 1994, the Chuvash republic state, Yankovsky region, New Buyanovo village (the Hare) • Natalia Balashova, 1963, Moscow (the Ray of Light), • Anna Zhilinsky, 2002, St.-Petersburg (the Snowflake). And finally, do these dates mean that the Snowflake designer is not even 10 years old (congratulations to her, then) and that a 50-year-old woman created a mascot that fitted hers perfectly?? Something doesn't work here... Unless they created a pair of mascots whose designs have been extremely modified Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob2012 Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 I don't even remember the 2002 mascots to be honest, but since Baron mentioned them I thought I'd look them up: SLC 2002: A snowshoe hare, a coyote and a black bear... A snow hare, a snow leopard and a polar bear... Wow.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rio2016man Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 For the first ever time, the mascots were picked by a popular vote and not by a national Olympic committee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 The animal most associated with Russia is the Brown Bear. Or the KGB agent. For the first ever time, the mascots were picked by a popular vote and not by a national Olympic committee. Which is why it is ALL OVER THE PLACE -- not one or 2 TRULY representative of the hosting region. The whole thing is a farce. And finally, do these dates mean that the Snowflake designer is not even 10 years old (congratulations to her, then) and that a 50-year-old woman created a mascot that fitted hers perfectly?? Something doesn't work here... Unless they created a pair of mascots whose designs have been extremely modified Athan, I believe those are the birth years of the "artists." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTHarner Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 I've kind of lost interest in the mascots and it is one of the few Olympic-related things that I really don't think much about anymore. I must say, that IMHO these actually do look rather nice and even if the connection between them is either vague or non-existent, they'll do fine. In fact they are some of the few nice looking things to come out of these Games so far. The logo is atrocious and the pictures I saw on Facebook the other day of the Bolshoi Ice Palace made me gag, the thing looks like a creepy flying saucer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Tickle Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 Very bland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Rols Posted February 28, 2011 Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 Just to bring the Mischa-lookalike debate down here: Medvedev admits Russian mascot poll flawed MOSCOW — Russia's much criticised choice of three fluffy mammals as its mascots for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games took a new twist Monday when President Dmitry Medvedev admitted their election was flawed. Russians at the weekend selected a snow leopard, a hare and a polar bear as the official mascots for the Sochi Games in a televised poll that aimed to present the three creatures as the people's choice. But this being Russia, even this most innocent sounding of ballots proved controversial with the original favourite Ded Moroz -- the Russian Father Christmas -- rather brutally slung out of the competition by the organisers. Then Prime Minister Vladimir Putin let slip that he wanted the snow leopard to win, leading to a surge of votes for the spotted predator and allegations of dirty tricks. Speaking at a meeting on designing new electronic payment and social security card for Russians, Medvedev declared: "I hope that this is going to be more fair than the discussion of the symbols for our Olympics." "This time, there will not be such a difference between that voting on the television and the (initial) voting on the Internet," the ITAR-TASS news agency quoted him as saying. The online vote for the mascots already faced a storm of criticism after its most popular contender, the blue hairy frog Zoich with a ski pole in his mouth, didn't make it in the short list. The winning mascots were seen as controversial with pundits complaining the bear was a blatant copy of the mascot for the 1980 Moscow Olympics and also too close to the bear symbol of the ruling United Russia party. Meanwhile, the Russian branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) complained that the leopard was a confusing choice as the snow leopard species lived nowhere near the Caucasus mountains where the Olympics will be held. Russia has started a reintroduction programme for the Persian leopard in the Caucasus but the WWF pointed out that the Olympics Mascot was a snow leopard that in Russia lives only in southern Siberia. "The organisers have to decide what they are talking about," WWF Russia director Igor Chestin said in a statement. "If they are talking about a Persian leopard then they've got to change the design." AFP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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