Everyone who saw her remembers the touching closing of the 1980 Olympics, which took place in the Soviet Union. A flying bear with a symbolic song performed by Lev Leshchenko caused tears of tenderness in hundreds of thousands of people. But few of those who sat in the stadium or watched the closing of the Games on television at that moment thought about the future fate of this symbol and about where the Olympic bear landed.
History tour
More than 30 years have passed since the 1980 Olympics, which was held in the capital of Russia, and its symbol, the Olympic Bear, is still one of the favorite and most famous folk heroes. It was created by Viktor Chizhikov, an illustrator of books. By the way, it was the author who gave him the name Toptygin Mikhail Potapovich. This figure was approved as a symbol of the Olympics due to the fact that it felt sports enthusiasm, strength, courage and perseverance. It has been selected from over 40,000 options.
The 1980 Olympic Bear gained worldwide fame and recognition. The author of this symbol received letters from around the world. Happy were those who could get a picture of a bear, a pendant or a figurine. By the way, for creating such a symbol Chizhikov was supposed to be a millionaire. But a miracle did not happen in the Soviet Union, he was paid 2,000 rubles and forced to give up copyright on his brainchild.
Closing Games
Of course, the farewell ceremony added popularity to the symbol of the Olympics. After all, it is still believed that the closing of the Games was especially touching. At that moment, when Mishka ascended to heaven, tears of emotion poured over many, the stadium waved to the 1980 Games mascot. But few people thought about where the Olympic bear landed. These questions arose later.
And at that moment everyone brushed away tears, listened to the soulful words of a song by Pakhmutova and Dobronravov with the title “Goodbye, our affectionate Misha”. By the way, very few people knew that the flight of the symbol of the Olympics was initially rejected by the chairman of the sports committee Grammov. On the corresponding proposal, he wrote that the bears do not fly, so the idea of flying was refused. But the main director of the Olympics could not calm down on this, he was able to realize this idea only thanks to his courage and perseverance. He addressed directly to the chairman of the Central Committee of the CPSU of that time - Suslov. He approved and supported this idea.
Where is Bear?
So, the six-meter symbol of the 1980 Games took off over the stadium and almost nothing is known about its future fate. Even at present, there are two versions of where the Olympic bear landed. So, the most common is the following option. The symbol of the Olympics flew to the outskirts of Moscow, where it landed safely. True, according to the same version, he shot down a beer booth and very scared two local men. At this, his adventures ended, and he was exhibited at VDNH. By the way, they say that at one time the Germans offered 100,000 marks for him, but the Union government did not even consider such an option. After the exhibition, the mascot was sent to one of the cellars, where rats eventually bit him.
But there is another version of how and where the Olympic bear landed. According to the second option, the talisman was carried away by wind currents in the suburbs. To land him, test pilot Surov needed to open special valves. He successfully completed the task, after which Mishka crashed to the ground on the Mozhaisk reservoir. But Surov died during this operation. The talisman itself also fell into disrepair and was burned. But at present, it is no longer possible to find where the 1980 Olympic Bear landed, since it was destroyed anyway.
How was the Bear created?
But many are interested not only in the fate of the Games mascot. Not everyone understands how back in 1980 it was possible to send a six-meter figure into a controlled flight. Indeed, it was much easier to come up with an touching farewell to the bear than to bring it to life.
The bear was created at a special institute of the rubber industry. For him,
rubberized fabric was first made
. After that, with the tongs of the balloon workshop, together with the specialists of the institute, a bear figure was created. In case of force majeure circumstances, two identical dolls were immediately made.
Flight training
But the creation of the bear was far from the most problematic stage. It was much harder to teach a talisman to fly. The fact is that this figure is absolutely not aerodynamic; sending it into a controlled flight seemed almost impossible. Indeed, according to the idea, he was supposed to rise above the last stands to a height of about 3.5 meters and fly away from the stadium. At the same time, it was important not to touch the chalice with fire. At first, it was decided to completely abandon the idea of a rubber doll and set a person in flight. Such tests were carried out at one of the aerodromes near Moscow, engineer Trusov put on a specially prepared suit and soared sharply up with the help of balls to a great height. After that, he was never found.
Another inventor was asked to establish control of the rubber doll using balls that could shift the weight of the object in the right direction. If everything worked out as planned, questions about where the Olympic bear would not have arisen. After all, in his right paw, according to the idea, a man was supposed to sit, who will control the talisman. But the tests failed: the bear flew over the burning torch and flashed. The operator, sitting in a doll, died of burns.
After that, it was decided to fix the balls only on the ears and upper legs. Thanks to this, the bear did not roll over. As planned, he was supposed to land accurately in the Sparrow Hills, but this plan was not fully implemented.