My first go at the creating a Russian Olympics Mascot

Here's my first go (see the post below).


Can you do better?!?!

Budding Designers Needed! Create a Mascot for the 2014 Winter Games!

GamesBids.com - Sochi 2014 Mascot Competition Goes International:
Tuesday, October 5, 2010 2:38pm EDT

Sochi 2014 announced Tuesday that the mascot competition for the Olympic and Paralympic Games is now accepting international entries.
Dmitry Chernyshenko, President and CEO of Sochi 2014 said in a press release, 'the Olympic and Paralympic movements are without borders. Their mission is to bring together representatives from different nations and countries in the name of sports and peace. That is why we have decided that everyone should have the opportunity to propose a mascot idea for consideration, regardless of nationality or country of residence. We are delighted to welcome all individuals with a strong passion for Russian culture and language to participate'.

All submissions from foreign nationals will be processed according to the rules of the contest, and those satisfying these criteria will be posted on the official website of the competition.


All other conditions of the competition, which began three weeks ago, have remained the same. Participants should upload their work by registering on talisman.sochi2014.ru, or by sending it to P.O. Box 'Talisman Sochi 2014', Moscow, 105275, together with a completed questionnaire.
The winner will be chosen by popular vote on February 7, 2011, three years before the start of the Sochi 2014 Games."


This is your chance to make a bit of Mascot history! Let's get some designs together and see if we can't be the ones to create a Mascot for the Russian Winter Olympics.

Wow, imagine that. I'm going to draw an iceskating bear...

Where is Games mascot Shera?

Where is Games mascot Shera?:



New Delhi, Oct 3 (IANS) Shera -- the mascot of the 19th Commonwealth Games -- was missing from the gala opening ceremony here Sunday.
People crowding the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium waited eagerly for Shera, the smiling tiger who is the face of the Games.
But Shera was nowhere to be seen during the three-hour ceremony.
Spectators, especially children, were disappointed.
'It was ridiculous that Shera was not at the opening ceremony. The ceremony was good but Shera would have added to it,' said Priyanshu Singh, a Class V student from east Delhi."

Genuine real actual breaking mascot news! Really! Even the fake furlong is fixed - Telegraph

Wow. Breaking news about mascots. I was so excited when I heard this on the radio this morning I spilt my tea.


The Telegraph are leading with this today:




Even the fake furlong is fixed - Telegraph: "Even the fake furlong is fixed
The venerable Mascot Grand National has been infiltrated in recent years by contestants who are bent on winning, which is hardly in the spirit of the British sport". 


So it turns out that teams are attempting to fix the yearly Mascot Grand National by entering ringers. The guy who spends all year dressed as a mascot doesn't get to race in the highlight of the mascot calendar. Instead they enter a ringer and even go as far as streamlining the costume for efficiency.  More from the Telegraph:


"This venerable contest between football club mascots, where scores of persons clad in gigantic outfits of foam and fake fur struggle along a 220-yard course and over six fences, has been infiltrated in recent years by contestants who are bent on winning, which is hardly in the spirit of the British sport. More to the point, some of these participants are not the actual mascots who attend matches, but ringers in stripped-down costumes, designed for velocity rather than levity. "


Here they are.  Please note that this picture is to illustrate the story and there is no implication that any of the pictures mascots are involved in the fix.

This story could run and run, like the mascots, so I'll keep you up to speed thoughout the day.


This is the kind of day I live for.

Mascots in Motion_The Official Website of the 16th Asian Games

Mascots in Motion The Official Website of the 16th Asian Games: "Editor's Words:The Official Mascots of the Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games are Le Yangyang and his four friends, A Xiang, A He, A Ru and A Yi, each with their own character and style. Put together, their names make the Chinese phrase, Xiang He Ru Yi Le Yangyang - which means Peace, Harmony and Great Happiness, with everything going as you wish. This fully expresses the people of Guangzhou's hope that the 16th Asian Games brings luck, harmony, joy, success and great happiness to all the people of Asia."


OK, so I promised I'd write a little more on the these dudes, Le Yangyang. Interesting how these 5 mascots are individual but also seem to be 5 parts of a single whole. Perhaps this reflects the polytheistic nature of some Asian religions...

They're pretty cool and I'd like to see more use of farm animal mascots in future events.  I'm getting a lot of feedback that people are pretty bored of the normal tigers and bears...

And then there was Kinas...

This is all where it started for me, way back in the day.  We'd arrived in Portugal for the European Championships in 2004 and a crazy guy called Kinas met us at the airport.  What a great welcome!


Anyway, you can see from the site banner how much excitement we all had at meeting a bona fide mascot star.  However this was only a large plastic Kinas.  Imagine how cool it was to see the real Kinas at some football match:

I think it's safe to say that those of us who were there won't be forgetting that half time in a hurry...

First sight of 5 Yangs - the Asian Game mascots

I've been planning to write about these guys for a couple of days now...  The Asian games start soon in China and they've gone for 5 goats.  5 mascots huh - talk about raising the stakes.  I hope these guys are not 'kidding' around.




I'll be back soon to tell you more about them.