Today, December 19, marks the birthday of the Olympic Bear. The main mascot of the 1980 Olympics holds many secrets and fascinating facts. As the symbol of the XXII Summer Olympic Games, several options were considered: Bear, Humpbacked Horse, Matryoshka, and Petrushka. A public vote was held to determine the mascot, and the Bear was chosen! In 1977, the USSR Olympic Committee organized an illustration contest to decide whose sketch would become the symbol of the 1980 Games. Thousands of people participated in the event. The winner was Viktor Chizhikov, an outstanding children’s book illustrator. Interestingly, the idea to depict the Olympic rings on the bear’s belt buckle came to the artist in a dream! After the Olympics ended, the mascot doll ascended into the sky to the touching song by Alexandra Pakhmutova – “Farewell, Moscow.”