ID :
164347
Sun, 02/27/2011 - 08:27
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/164347
The shortlink copeid
Leopard, White Bear and Hare to be mascots of Sochi Olympics in 2014
MOSCOW, February 27 (Itar-Tass) - Leopard, White Bear and Hare have
become official mascots of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.
A decision on this was passed about midnight Saturday by the Sochi
organizing committee upon the results of a nationwide SMS and telephone live voting, which was broadcast by the Moscow-based Channel One.
In a simultaneous voting, the audiences named the Stellar Boy and the Snowflake as the mascots for the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games.
Committee President Dmitry Chernyshenko, who announced the results, said: "Since there are three positions at the winners' stand, we'll have three mascots - the Leopard, the White Bear and the Hare."
"A popular Russian saying suggests that God loves Trinity and that's why the Organizing Committee decided to leave three winners of the audiences' preference rate," he said. "Each of them reiterates the Olympic principles - friendship, respect and willingness for perfection."
In the outcome, the Leopard got 28% votes, the White Bear, 18%, and the Hare, 16%.
The breakdown of votes for other mascots was as follows: the Dolphin, 12%, the Robin, 10%, the Matryoshka nesting doll, and the Brown Bear, 3%.
One of the favorites in previous rounds of people's voting, Granny
Frost, who in many ways is the Russian counterpart of Santa Claus,
withdrew from the race of its own free will, as it might become the
property of the International Olympic Committee /IOC/ then.
The legend behind the mascots imparts each creature with certain
personal qualities. It says, for instance, that "the Leopard is a
mountainous rescuer and climber who lives inside the crown of a tree
perched on the highest cliff in snow-capped mountaints of the
Caucasus."He's always ready to help and he has saved a village located
nearby from snow avalanches more than once."
"The Leopard excells in snowboarding and he has familiarized all of his friends and neighbors with that sport. He is a merry animal very fond of dancing, and that's why he can't live too far from people".
"The White Bear lives in an icehouse someplace inside the Arctic
Circle and everything in his dwelling -- the shower, the bed, the
computer, and even the sports simulators -- is made of ice and snow."
"Human researchers of the Arctic took part in his upbringing and
education since the time he was but a small cub. It was the researchers who taught him to ski, to skate and to play curling. but he personally developed a taste for bobsleigh and now his closest friends, the fur seals, joyfully watch his victories."
"They organize competitions in these sports themselves, too,"
"The Hare is a young female creature living in the winter forest. Her friends are always amazed at how much she manages to do every day."
"Not only is she an exemplary student at the Forest Academy, she
always finds time to help her mother about their family restaurant called 'The Forest Pond' and to take part in various competitions."
"The Hare assures her friends that she doesn't have any secrets and she simply loves sports. One more thing she loves is singing and dancing."
As part of the televised show, the candidates who suddenly came alive showed three-minutes-long introduction films about themselves.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with students in Sochi he personally preferred the Leopard, whom he called "a strong, the most quick-moving and nice-looking animal."
He said however he would trust the opinion of the majority of those who took part in the voting.
Putin said the Leopard would be a highly emblematic image for the
Sochi Games. "The leopards as a species were exterminated in the past but now they are being revived here."
"If the practical steps taken in connection with the Olympic project bring about the revival of at least one segment of nature that has been lost because of human activity, this is really very emblematic then," Putin said.
He stressed along with this once again the fundamental principle for the selection of mascots is to take account of what the majority of people think and "to avoid any connections to what Dmitry Anatolyevich or I personally think."
become official mascots of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.
A decision on this was passed about midnight Saturday by the Sochi
organizing committee upon the results of a nationwide SMS and telephone live voting, which was broadcast by the Moscow-based Channel One.
In a simultaneous voting, the audiences named the Stellar Boy and the Snowflake as the mascots for the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games.
Committee President Dmitry Chernyshenko, who announced the results, said: "Since there are three positions at the winners' stand, we'll have three mascots - the Leopard, the White Bear and the Hare."
"A popular Russian saying suggests that God loves Trinity and that's why the Organizing Committee decided to leave three winners of the audiences' preference rate," he said. "Each of them reiterates the Olympic principles - friendship, respect and willingness for perfection."
In the outcome, the Leopard got 28% votes, the White Bear, 18%, and the Hare, 16%.
The breakdown of votes for other mascots was as follows: the Dolphin, 12%, the Robin, 10%, the Matryoshka nesting doll, and the Brown Bear, 3%.
One of the favorites in previous rounds of people's voting, Granny
Frost, who in many ways is the Russian counterpart of Santa Claus,
withdrew from the race of its own free will, as it might become the
property of the International Olympic Committee /IOC/ then.
The legend behind the mascots imparts each creature with certain
personal qualities. It says, for instance, that "the Leopard is a
mountainous rescuer and climber who lives inside the crown of a tree
perched on the highest cliff in snow-capped mountaints of the
Caucasus."He's always ready to help and he has saved a village located
nearby from snow avalanches more than once."
"The Leopard excells in snowboarding and he has familiarized all of his friends and neighbors with that sport. He is a merry animal very fond of dancing, and that's why he can't live too far from people".
"The White Bear lives in an icehouse someplace inside the Arctic
Circle and everything in his dwelling -- the shower, the bed, the
computer, and even the sports simulators -- is made of ice and snow."
"Human researchers of the Arctic took part in his upbringing and
education since the time he was but a small cub. It was the researchers who taught him to ski, to skate and to play curling. but he personally developed a taste for bobsleigh and now his closest friends, the fur seals, joyfully watch his victories."
"They organize competitions in these sports themselves, too,"
"The Hare is a young female creature living in the winter forest. Her friends are always amazed at how much she manages to do every day."
"Not only is she an exemplary student at the Forest Academy, she
always finds time to help her mother about their family restaurant called 'The Forest Pond' and to take part in various competitions."
"The Hare assures her friends that she doesn't have any secrets and she simply loves sports. One more thing she loves is singing and dancing."
As part of the televised show, the candidates who suddenly came alive showed three-minutes-long introduction films about themselves.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with students in Sochi he personally preferred the Leopard, whom he called "a strong, the most quick-moving and nice-looking animal."
He said however he would trust the opinion of the majority of those who took part in the voting.
Putin said the Leopard would be a highly emblematic image for the
Sochi Games. "The leopards as a species were exterminated in the past but now they are being revived here."
"If the practical steps taken in connection with the Olympic project bring about the revival of at least one segment of nature that has been lost because of human activity, this is really very emblematic then," Putin said.
He stressed along with this once again the fundamental principle for the selection of mascots is to take account of what the majority of people think and "to avoid any connections to what Dmitry Anatolyevich or I personally think."
