Did they find the bear from the 1980 Olympics. History of the Olympic Bear: legends and facts
August 3, 1980 the whole world watched closing XXII summer olympic games. “Goodbye, our affectionate Misha,” they sang along in the stands, not holding back tears. And then everyone wondered: where did he fly away?
Olympic Bear at the Closing Ceremony of the 1980 Olympics. YouTube frameMillions of spectators watched as the Olympic Bear rose into the sky and disappeared into the darkness. Many women wept bitterly, and the children believed that he would certainly return to his fairy forest. the site collects all the rumors and facts and tells how the difficult fate of the mascot of the 1980 Olympics developed.
Who Invented the Olympic Bear?
For three years, Mishka became almost family to everyone. In 1977, the election of the symbol of the Moscow Olympics began. The organizing committee, taking into account the results of the popular vote, opted for a bear - after all, a "national" hero, immortalized in fairy tales, a symbol of courage, strength and power. The elk was a serious competitor, but the victory still remained with the eared. Victor Chizhikov, a 42-year-old artist and illustrator of children's books, won the competition for the best image of the mascot of the Olympic Games. He said that the idea of putting a belt on Mishka with Olympic rings came to him in a dream.
The contract stated that the artist was simply ordered to draw "Funny Bear". Initially, they wanted to pay Chizhikov, who in any other country would have become a millionaire, 250 rubles, estimating the sketch by area, by square centimeters, but they agreed on more than a thousand - "for unique graphics." There was no mention of copyright or patent. Officials said that since the symbol of the Olympics-80 was chosen by the entire Soviet people, then the author of the people. When the artist tried to defend something, wise friends advised him not to get involved and come to terms with the situation.
Olympic Bear on a postage stamp, 1980. Source: Wikimedia
Project "Bear"
For the Olympics, a huge rubber balloon doll with a height of more than 6 meters was made. The project, on which the employees of the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute worked, was called succinctly and almost in a military way - “Bear”.
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Putin's umbrella ... and other umbrellasUmbrella Russian President, sheltering its owner from the pouring rain, has become the same symbol of the World Cup final as a bear soaring into the sky almost thirty years ago.Inside the Olympic Bear was helium, the body was made of rubberized fabric, which took 150 meters. And the inflatable paws were attached with the help of hinges. When the tests began, the project was in jeopardy. TsAGI was in a panic. The main problem was that the bear did not want to take off vertically: it rolled to one side, rolled over onto its back. Only when the legs were weighted to the talisman of the Olympics and balloons were tied to the paws, the situation improved.
One option involved replacing the giant doll with a man in a bear costume tied to giant balls. There was also an idea to make the Mishka manageable, to put a person inside the doll. It was said that the tests were not without casualties: once the doll lost control and, flying too close to the burning Olympic torch, caught fire, and the engineer sitting in the “cabin” in one of the hind legs subsequently died from burns.
Bears can't fly!
Closing ceremony of the Olympics-80. Source: Wikimedia/RIAN archive
Farewell to the Olympic Bear is still considered by many to be the most touching moment both in the history of the Olympics and in the history of the USSR. Then it was time for grandiose fireworks and special effects.\ And in Moscow in 1980, in order to touch the hearts of millions, it was enough for a doll soaring upwards, an image of the symbol of the Games on a giant screen (“picture” was created with the help of more than four thousand soldiers, changing colored shields on command) and one stingy tear that rolled from the bear's eye.
But this could not be! The officials did not like the idea of a flying bear - the option when in the final the Bear crawls into a den right at the stadium seemed to them more suitable and easily feasible. As the deputy chief director of the Olympics in Moscow later said, the flight had to be “punched”. At first, the party bosses said that the bear could not fly, then they appealed to the fact that he could collide with the plane. According to rumors, only the intervention of a high-ranking general of aviation, who promised to provide Mishka with an "air corridor", saved the project.
He flew away and did not promise to return
Closing ceremony of the Olympics-80.
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. Muscovites and guests of the capital accompanied him with tears in his eyes to the song performed by Lev Leshchenko and Tatyana Antsiferova from the center of the Luzhniki stadium.
The history of the creation of the talisman.
The history of the creation of the image of the Olympic Bear began in 1977, when a survey of the population was conducted in the country through the program "In the World of Animals" and the editors of the newspaper "Soviet Sport", where the audience was 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 made to the best artists of the country. The final version was made by the illustrator of children's books - Viktor Aleksandrovich Chizhikov. Among the 60 cubs that made it to the final, his version was also liked by the IOC President of that time, Lord Kilanin. The Organizing Committee of the Moscow Olympiad chose this animal as a symbol, since it has such qualities characteristic of an athlete as strength, perseverance and courage.
TO Olympic Games a six-meter rubber talisman was created - the balloon "Olympic Bear". Initially, it was planned to be made in Moscow at the Research Institute of the Rubber Industry, but due to the large dimensions of Mishka, the manufacturing process was transferred to the institute's branch located in Zagorsk (now Sergiev Posad). For testing and in case of unforeseen circumstances, two duplicates were made.
Project Bear.
According to the plan of 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 the rise of the talisman into the air. The bear was not just supposed to fly vertically upwards over the stadium. Having reached a certain height (3.5 m from the top of the stands), he had to leave the stadium as soon as possible without hitting the bowl with the Olympic flame.
At first, engineer Alexander Trusov suggested abandoning the doll and dressing a person in a bear costume, tying him to balloons filled 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 took off. The first flight was successful, after which it was decided to conduct the next experiment under conditions as close as possible to the required ones: twilight, climb 30 meters (the height of the Luzhniki stands). But this time, at a height of one hundred meters, the Olympic Bear suddenly turned around, flew 50 meters, and then began to sharply go up, disappearing from view.
After that, the engineers developed a system of so-called "carrying balls". Its essence was as follows: moving in a certain way, the balls contributed to the displacement of the center of gravity of the object (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 right direction. The operator in the cockpit in the right hind leg had to control the direction of flight. But on testing this option, the doll lost control, flew over the burning Olympic torch and flared up. Engineer Igor Artamonov, who was sitting in the cockpit, died from his burns. Then it was decided to fix the balls only on the upper paws and ears so that the bear would not roll over.
It is still not known for certain what happened to the Olympic Bear after he left the Luzhniki arena on an August evening in 1980 and disappeared into the sky. Whether he was a manned craft or just a huge rubber doll with balloons - no one knows for sure.
"The Olympic Bear is a symbol of the Moscow Olympics. How much more charming and humane was he than the monotonously beautiful and purposeful poster "builders of communism"! soul to the 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 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, knocked down a beer booth, scaring two local "uncles" to death. Then he was exhibited for some time at VDNKh, next to other achievements of the Soviet national economy (record holder cows, a monstrous tractor "Kirovets" and an Olympic Mishka - there something for the national economy to be proud of!) At that time, a West German firm offered to buy a rubber Mishka for 100,000 marks. Naive Germans! The Soviets have their own pride, which is not sold for despicable Deutschmarks! A bear from VDNKh was sent to one of the basements Olympic Committee USSR, where he stood until he was... eaten by rats."
(A. Khoroshevsky. 100 famous symbols of the Soviet era.)
spoil it so...I honestly googled for half an hour - there is no official information ...
There are many different versions...
Here are the main ones -First and official. The bear took off from the Luzhniki stadium with the help of balloons and helium, which he himself was inflated with while being rubber, and landed 15 minutes later on Sparrow Hills. All. How he could do this is not explained. After all, it is so "simple" to take off and land in the planned place. I must say that this version is very true, with the exception of important details of the control of the Bear, the flight itself and the flight time. Only the question arises, how did Potapych manage to do everything smoothly himself? After all, the robotics of those times was hardly capable of such maneuvers with such a large and complex aircraft, which was called the Olympiyskiy Mishka balloon product. Well, then there was no such device that could be controlled from the remote control on the ground, or rather, there was no time for such serious work, and it was necessary to get by with a simpler remote control option.
Second version. The bear was controlled by a pilot, a test pilot, who was located in his right leg and controlled it with balls. It was ballast to the waist, then helium in a rubber sheath, plus the balls themselves, which the pilot manipulated. The balls were divided into two equal groups, the principle of control was that the pilot pulled that group of balls in the direction he needed to turn. Everything seems to be logical. One can imagine that by “rolling over” with the help of groups of balls from side to side (just by analogy with the bear’s gait), the Bear could be brought to the landing point, and then, having bled the helium, sit down. The version is beautiful, but its authors did not take into account the fact that there is such an atmospheric phenomenon as the wind, which could blow in a different direction, and given the high windage of the product, no manipulation of the balls would force Mishkin to change course back to the wind. Do you believe that the Soviet scientists and designers who worked on the project would not have taken into account such a factor as the wind?! Soviet scientists, not scientists from Papua New Guinea, those who sent autonomous modules to the moon, were the first to go into space, etc.
According to the third version he fell down somewhere in Moscow knocking down a beer stall (!) And two citizens. According to this version, it turns out that he could have attacked the Kremlin and the Kurchaty Institute, for example, or simply banged on the windows of some residential building, delighting citizens who had not departed from the sentimental ceremony of farewell and closing of the Olympic Games on TV. So to say: - Hello, here I am, Mikhail Potapych Toptygin - Olympic, in person, the same gouging as I look, flesh of your flesh, native to the board, uncontrollable Russian bear!
Version four the most fantastic and no less beautiful. Misha flew right up to the Mozhaisk reservoir, also controlled by a pilot. The pilot, as it were, could not cope with the landing and, due to the strong wind, flew away from Moscow for a hundred kilometers (!), Where he undertook landing maneuvers, bleeding off helium, but gusts of wind strongly nailed him to the ground. The pilot is dead. Imagine the posthumous Order of the Hero of the Soviet Union, a test pilot who died on a secret mission while piloting the Olympic Bear! And it happened on the territory of the tourist center "Vympel". Versions that somewhere in the suburbs he was shot down by a valiant air defense, I think it is not worth considering. Although what the hell is not joking, if the German pilot Rust (who sat on a sports plane on Red Square) missed the mark in the future, why in the past such a serious structure as the Moscow Region Air Defense would not bother to mistake Mishka for an enemy bomber ...
Do you know who the Olympic Bear is? Photos, postcards, even postage stamps and match labels with his image are still carefully kept by our parents. How many souvenir toys, commemorative badges were issued with him! How many conversations are devoted to this amazing character. And what do you know about this cute symbol of the Olympic Games, which has become famous all over the world? Let's remember together about the talisman that was born more than thirty years ago.
Olympic bear. The birth of a symbol
As you know, each Olympics has its own talisman. The 1980 Olympics, which took place in Moscow, were no exception. It was for her that they came up with this funny talisman. The "father" of Mikhail Potapych, as the toy was jokingly called, was Viktor Chizhikov. It was he who came up with the image of Mishka and captured it in the drawings, having thought through everything to the smallest detail. Cheerful smiling teddy bear captivated the jury at first sight. And so, in December 1977, Potapych was approved as the official talisman.
Olympic Bear and its qualities
It was not chosen by chance. The kind and friendly Mishka fit the role of a talisman like no other. Bears are wise guardians of the forests, in some ways very similar to people. Moreover, judging by the jokes that go around the world, not just people, but, first of all, our Russians. After all, Russia and Russians around the world have long been associated with a bear. Another undoubted advantage was the qualities inherent in a bear - strength, courage and perseverance. It is this character, according to the jury, that athletes should have.
Olympic Bear and its appearance
Mikhail Potapovich is an anthropomorphic bear cub standing on its hind legs. The beast is girded with a blue-black-yellow-green-red belt. These colors have long been symbols of games. Also on his belt is a buckle consisting of five golden rings. According to rumors, the artist thought for a long time how to dress Mishka, until the idea of the “Olympic Belt” came to his mind. Only after that the bear could become a truly integral character.
Olympic Bear after the end of the Olympics
At the closing of the Olympics, it was decided to launch Mikhail Potapovich into the sky in balloons. The talisman toy flew away to the farewell song performed by Lev Leshchenko. Few of those present in the stands at the time could hold back their tears. At the end of the Olympics, Mishka was sent to one of the VDNH warehouses, where he ended his life. They said that the Germans wanted to buy it, but ours flatly refused to sell it.
Conclusion
Here he is, our kind and affectionate Mishka. Olympic mascot famous all over the world. And now, when it comes to the 1980 Olympics, people first of all remember Mikhail Potapovich, what a wonderful sports mood he created, what a pity it was to part with him. Few people can remember the winners and prize-winners of that Olympics, as well as the mascots of other games. Who knows what is to blame: the patriotism of our people or the irresistible charm of a teddy bear. But in any case, the fact remains - Potapych lives in our hearts to this day.
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. Him with tears in his eyes to the song performed Lev Leshchenko And Tatyana Antsiferova Muscovites and guests of the capital saw off from the center of the arena of the Luzhniki Stadium.
Where did the Olympic bear fly and what was its fate, says AiF.ru
The history of the creation of the mascot
The history of the creation of the image of the Olympic Bear began in 1977, when a survey of the population was conducted in the country through the program "In the World of Animals" and the editors of the newspaper "Soviet Sport", where the audience was 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 made to the best artists of the country. The final version was made illustrator of children's books - Viktor Aleksandrovich Chizhikov. His version among 60 cubs that reached the final was liked and IOC President of that time, Lord Kilanin. The Organizing Committee of the Moscow Olympiad 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 balloon "Olympic Bear". Initially, it was planned to be made 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.
Project "Bear"
According to the plan of 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 the rise of the talisman into the air. The bear was not just supposed to fly vertically upwards over the stadium. Having reached a certain height (3.5 m from the top of the stands), he had to leave the stadium as soon as possible without hitting the bowl with the Olympic flame.
At first engineer Alexander Trusov offered to abandon the doll and dress the man in a bear costume, tying him to balloons filled 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 took off. The first flight was successful, after which it was decided to conduct the next experiment under conditions as close as possible to the required ones: twilight, climb 30 meters (the height of the Luzhniki stands). But this time, at a height of one hundred meters, the Olympic Bear suddenly turned around, flew 50 meters, and then began to sharply go up, disappearing from view.
After that, the engineers developed a system of so-called "carrying balls". Its essence was as follows: moving in a certain way, the balls contributed to the displacement of the center of gravity of the object (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 right direction. The operator in the cockpit in the right hind leg had to control the direction of flight. But on testing this option, the doll lost control, flew over the burning Olympic torch and flared up. Engineer Igor Artamonov, who was sitting in the cockpit, died from his burns. Then it was decided to fix the balls only on the upper paws and ears so that the bear would not roll over.
It is still not known for certain what happened to the Olympic Bear after he left the Luzhniki arena on an August evening in 1980 and disappeared into the sky. Whether it was a manned craft or just a huge rubber doll with balloons, no one knows for sure.
It is only known that after the closing ceremony, a few hours later, a talisman doll was found on Vorobyovy Gory and taken to the warehouse. In the fall of 1980, a West German firm approached the Soviet government with an offer to buy rubber Misha for 100,000 German marks. However, the company was denied the purchase of a talisman. For some time, Mishka was exhibited in the Young Technician pavilion of VDNKh, and then was kept in the basement of the Olympic Committee, where rats ate him a few years later.