Ahem, ahem … and the 2014 Sochi Olympic mascots are the hare, the white bear, and the leopard that received 16%, 18% and 28% of the votes respectively.

Before the symbol contest started, Dmitry Chernyshenko, the president of the Organizing Committee “Sochi 2014,” announced the following:

“Our Games will become most innovative; hence, for the first time in the history of the Olympic and Paralympic movements, we decided on a difficult yet fair way of choosing the mascot. We made an unprecedented decision to create our mascot with the whole country.”

As if Russian people had nothing else to worry about… I wonder how many Russians actually bought into the Olympic mascot masquerade, dropped everything, and joined United Russia in its quest to find the right symbol for the Winter Olympic Games in the city that enjoys a humid subtropical climate with mild winters (average 11 °C (52 °F) during the day and 4 °C (39 °F) at night in the period from December to March).

Nevertheless, for the last several months, the First Russian TV channel, the channel that breathes and breeds United Russia’s ideology, tried to convince its viewers that the people of Russia are united in their mission to find the Olympic mascot. Propaganda filled commercials congested the air. The story about Medvedev visiting schools and looking at different Olympic mascots proposed by the children was periodically aired in the news. Internet sites were created, public forums were opened, SMS voting was set up, etc. Technologically advanced Russia was ready to accomplish this mission!

Today, February 26, the masquerade continued. We, the viewers, were invited to watch a show “Talismaniya, Sochi 2014,” during which the finalist would be chosen. A columnist Aleksey Drozdov couldn’t have captured the mood of the show better, “Stupid strained jokes, lip-synched Soviet songs, forced smiles of the stars… Dubbed by Bezrukov ‘stories’ of each mascot made one shudder and made one sick.”

Three hours later, the show was coming to its end. Everyone’s eyes were glued to the huge screen on the stage in anticipation. Five mascots down, three more to go. Which one would it be? Which one would you choose? Mr. Putin, for instance, chose the leopard stressing, however, that the mascot would be chosen based on the opinion of the majority. As you now know, the majority voted the same as the Vice President.

According to Vedomosti.ru, more than a million Russians participated in the voting. Russia’s population today is about 143,000,000, which means 1/143 of the country cared enough to cast its voice, that is if the numbers are true to begin with. 1/10 of Moscow inhabitants could’ve voted as well given that her population is about 10,563,038.

And so, the Olympic mascot has been chosen, with or without the help of the Vice President. One would think the show would be over now. Not so soon! In Russia, according to Dmitry Chernyshenko, “all good things come in three.” Furthermore, he noted, “There are three places on the Olympic pedestal. There are three Olympic values – friendship, respect, and aspiration for perfection. Hence, the Organizing Committee makes a decision to have three official mascots of the Games. All three are, indeed, the winners!”

Personally, I don’t know why the hare made it into the winning round. The choices behind the leopard and the white bear seem to be clear as day. The leopard – a symbol of Mr. Putin and his recently found love for nature; the white bear – a symbol of United Russia and Medvedev himself (after all, his last name is derived from the word “bear” in Russian). In the end, this once again seems to be about politics and not about people. No matter what your vote is, “they” reserve the right to make the final decision.

February 26, 2011