Russia to present Sochi Olympic mascot candidates

10:56, 7 February 2011

MOSCOW. February 7. KAZINFORM Russia's largest broadcaster Channel One will present 13 candidates to become the official mascot of the 2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti. RIA Novosti

The 10-minute TV show, in which animated characters would call on Russians to support them in the nationwide SMS-vote, will begin at 21:30 Moscow time (18:30 GMT) on Monday.

The 13 characters, including dolphin, polar and brown bears, leopard, snowflake and bullfinch, were chosen by a special commission among 24,000 candidates on the official website of the 2014 Olympic Games mascot.

The winner will be announced in late February.

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. Kazinform cites RIA Novosti. See www.en.rian.ru

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