Today, on 18 April, the Russian Olympic Committee presented the official mascots of Team Russia on the sports channel Match TV.
Since 2015, the ROC has been implementing the project Team Russia, which unites athletes in all sports, who defend the honour of Russia at international competitions, and the huge army of Russian fans.
The mascots of Team Russia are designed to support Russian athletes at international competitions, to unite and inspire fans, and to urge Russians to lead a healthy lifestyle and go in for sports.
The leading creative and design agencies of Russia took part in the competition stage for the development of mascots for Team Russia.
As a final result, two characters ended up as winners – a fluffy white cat in the form of an ushanka and a roly-poly toy bear who also doubles up as a matroshka. They were designed by the Art. Lebedev Studio. The mascots have embodied the traditional ideas about Russian character and bravery, the adorable and amusing features of animals loved all over Russia, as well as an innovative image and design.
Looking ahead, the mascots of Team Russia will play an important role: they will be present at all events organised by ROC and various sports competitions. They will also have separate accounts on social media for liaison with fans.
A wide range of licensed products with the Cat and the Bear will soon be available: from fluffy toys to various sportswear.
Already in June, the mascots will be present at the traditional annual event of ROC – Olympic Day, and afterwards they will be accompanying Team Russia to the 2nd European Games which are to be held in Minsk. During the Games Team Russia’s House of Fans will be created, where the Cat and the Bear will be seen by Russian and foreign athletes and fans.
As of now, Team Russia has called on all Russian athletes and fans to come up with names for the mascots.
You can offer your suggestions for the mascots’ names on their official accounts on social media:
OK https://ok.ru/teamrusmascots
VK https://vk.com/teamrussiamascots
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/teamrussiamascots/
Twitter https://twitter.com/teamrusmascots
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/teamrusmascots/
The official release of the Art. Lebedev Studio where you can get acquainted with the mascots:
https://www.artlebedev.ru/russian-olympic-mascots/
A recording of the TV programme broadcasting the announcement on Match TV:
https://matchtv.ru/olimpijskije_igry/matchtvvideo_NI1007568_clip_Vse_na_Match_v_efire_Match_TV_vpervyje_pokazali_novyje_talismany_Olimpijskoj_komandy_Rossii_Specefir
