Leopard, polar bear and hare were chosen mascots of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics following in a nationwide SMS-vote which finished on Saturday.
Russians submitted sketches of about 24,000 candidates to the official website of the 2014 Olympic Games mascot. Only 13 characters, including dolphin, polar and brown bears, matryoshka dolls, snowflake and bullfinch, have made it into the final.
"I think choosing three mascots was a right decision," said Oleg Serdechny, a resident of the 2014 Olympic host city, who designed the polar bear character. "As a team, we have more chances to successfully perform at the Olympics."
Vadim Pak, the author of snow leopard from the Far Eastern city of Nakhodka said: "I had an image of snow leopard as an immediate association with Sochi."
"Sochi lies in the Caucasus, and show leopards live in mountains. That's why I started drawing them," he said. "I drew lots of sketches before choosing the best one and sending it by post."
The hare was designed by 16-year-old Silvia Petrova from the Volga area Republic of Chuvashia. She said that in her mind, "a white and furry hare" was the only suitable mascot for Winter Olympic Games.
"I had little time. I drew the hare and submitted the drawing on the same day," she said.
The winners were announced during a 115-minute evening TV show on Russia's largest broadcaster Channel One. The online vote on the channel's website began at 3 p.m. Moscow time [12:00 GMT].
When the voting was about to start, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said he would like leopard to become the official mascot. The leopard received 28% of the votes, 18% and 16% voted for the polar bear and the hare, respectively.
Fire Boy and Snowflake were selected mascots for the Paralympics.
Father Frost, one of the potential frontrunners, dropped out of the contest. This decision was taken because he is the symbol of the New Year in Russia.
A nationwide competition to find a mascot for the 2014 Olympics kicked off on September 1, 2010. The mascot "should encompass a range of features characteristic of Russia, and at the same time be intelligible to people of every age, profession and nationality," organizers said earlier.
MOSCOW, February 27 (RIA Novosti)
