Where the Olympic Bear landed - the mysteries of the history of the 1980 Games

The touching closing of the 1980 Olympics, which took place in the Soviet Union, is remembered by all who saw it. A flying teddy bear under the symbolic song performed by Lev Leshchenko caused tears of emotion in hundreds of thousands of people. But few of those who sat in the stadium or watched the closing of the Games on TV, at that moment thought about the future fate of this symbol and about where the Olympic bear landed.

Excursion to the history

For more than 30 years it has passed since the 1980 Olympics, which was held in the Russian capital, and its symbol - the Olympic bear is still one of the favorite and famous folk heroes. It was created by Viktor Chizhikov - illustrator of books. By the way, it was the author who gave him the name of Toptygin Mikhail Potapovich. This figure was approved as a symbol of the Olympics due to the fact that it felt sportive fervor, strength, courage and perseverance. It was chosen among more than 40,000 options.

The Olympic bear 1980 became world famous and recognized. The author of this symbol came from all over the world. Happy were those who could get the image of a bear, pendant or statuette. By the way, for the creation of such a symbol, Chizhikov had to become a millionaire. But a miracle in the Soviet Union did not happen, he was paid 2000 rubles and forced to abandon the copyright to his offspring.

Closure of the Games

Popularity symbol of the Olympics, of course, added a farewell ceremony. It is still believed that the closing of the Games was particularly touching. At the moment when Mishka climbed into the sky, many tears of emotion flowed, the stadium waved the talisman of the 1980 Games. But few thought about where the Olympic bear landed. These questions arose a little later.

And at that moment everyone looked like tears, listened to the heartfelt words of the song of Pakhmutova and Dobronravova with the title "Goodbye, our affectionate Misha." By the way, very few people knew and that the flight of the symbol of the Olympics was first rejected by the chairman of the sports committee Grammov. On the relevant proposal, he wrote that the bears do not fly, so the idea of flight was denied. But the main director of the Olympics could not calm down on this, he could realize this idea only because of his courage and perseverance. He appealed directly to the chairman of the Central Committee of the CPSU of that time - Suslov. They approved and supported this idea.

Where is Mishka?

So, the six-meter symbol of the 1980 Games took off over the stadium and there is practically nothing known about its future fate. Even now 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. However, according to the same version, he knocked down a beer booth and very frightened two local men. On this, his adventures were completed, and he was put on VDNH. By the way, they say that at one time the Germans offered 100,000 marks for it, but the government of the Union did not even consider such an option. After the exhibition, the mascot was sent to one of the cellars, where he was rattled with rats over time.

But there is another version of how and where the Olympic bear landed. According to the second variant, the talisman was carried away by the streams of wind in the suburbs. To put him on, the test pilot Surov needed to open special valves. He successfully coped with the task, after which Mishka fell to the ground at the Mozhaisk reservoir. But Surov died during the operation. The talisman itself also fell into disrepair and was burned. But at the present time it is no longer possible to find where the Olympic bear 1980 landed, since it is still destroyed.

How was Mishka created?

But many are interested not only in the future destiny of the mascot of the Games. Not everyone understands how in the distant 1980 it was possible to send a controlled flight six-meter figure. And really, to come up with an idea with a touching farewell to the bear was much easier than to implement it.

Mishka was created in a special institute of the rubber industry. For him, a rubberized cloth was first made . After that, with the specialists of the institute, a bear figure was created by the glueers of the balloon shop. In the event of force majeure, two identical dolls were made at once.

Flight Training

But the creation of the bear was far from the most problematic stage. It was much more difficult to teach how to fly a talisman. The fact is that this figure is absolutely not aerodynamic, sending it to a controlled flight seemed almost impossible. After all, on the idea he had to rise above the last stands to a height of about 3.5 meters and fly away from the stadium. It was important not to touch the cup with fire. In the beginning, it was decided at all to be from the idea of a rubber doll and send it to a man's flight. Such tests were carried out at one of the Moscow aerodromes near Moscow, the engineer Trusov put on a specially prepared suit and sharply soared upwards with the help of balls to a greater height. After that, he was never found.

Another inventor was suggested to adjust the control of the rubber doll with balls that could shift the weight of the object in the desired direction. If everything turned out as planned, questions about where the Olympic bear would not have arisen. After all, in his right paw on the idea was to sit a man who will manage the talisman. But the tests failed: the bear flew over the burning torch and flashed. The operator, sitting in the doll, died of burns.

After that, it was decided to fix the balls only on the ears and upper paws. Thanks to this, the bear did not roll over. According to the idea, he had to land neatly in the Vorobyovy Gory area, but this plan could not be fully implemented.