An outcry in the Russian blogosphere followed the announcement of the 2014 Winter Olympics mascot after the selection process raised allegations of political meddling.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was accused of driving the contest results toward the selection of his personal favorite, a snow leopard that most Russians didn’t want chosen.
Ten cartoons were short-listed from the original 24,000 mascot entries during a first-round of online voting.
In the final round, Russians were invited to cast their ballots over a phone marathon. The results were to be announced by the end of the night Saturday during a televised event.
The national favorite was a Christmas Ded Moroz (the Russian equivalent to Santa Claus), but that choice had to be removed due to a claim of intellectual property rights infringement with the International Olympic Committee.
The debate reignited after Prime Minister Putin revealed on TV that the snow leopard was his preferred candidate on the eve of the final telephone vote.
The snow leopard vaulted to the top over known popular favorites, raising suspicions that the process had been rigged.
Earlier polls by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center suggested the snow leopard was the least favorite among Russians – even after Ded Moroz’s ouster.
The snow leopard is one of three mascots that will be featured for the 2014 Winter Olympics alongside a rabbit and a polar bear.
did you see the vancouver 2010 mascots, they were at best an adaptation of hello kitty .