1980 Moscow Olympics Misha the Bear Macot NWT

As new condition on this 12.5" high 1979 Misha the Bear made for the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow. The 1980 Moscow Summer Games are perhaps best remembered as the least-represented Olympiad of modern history. Including the United States, 66 countries boycotted the Moscow Games as a result of The soviet Union's involvement in Afghanistan.

This Misha is adorable and in nearly perfect shape, including his original, clean, hang tag. Nice piece of Olympic history from the Olympics that wasn't (at least for 40% of the usual country participants).

From the Olympic.Org site:

Misha's full name is Mikhail Potapych Toptygin.

The bear is a familiar animal in Russia, appearing in many popular stories, songs and poems. Misha wears a striped belt around his waist made up of five bands in the colours of the Olympic rings. The belt consists of the five Olympic rings in a single colour.

Creator: Victor Chizhikov

Did you know?

A survey was conducted among the viewers of a TV programme about animals and the readers of a sports newspaper to choose a bear for the mascot. Some 45,000 letters were received from all over the USSR. A group of artists then produced 60 graphic versions of the mascot. It was finally the version by Victor Chizhikov, a well-known children‟s book illustrator, that was chosen.

On 15 June 1978, Misha took off on a “Soyuz” rocket to spend some time on the “Salyut 6” space station.

In an emotional moment, an enormous Misha bade farewell to the 100,000 spectators at the Great Arena at the end of the Closing Ceremony of the Games before being lifted off by balloons and disappearing into the sky.

Although much less well-known than Misha, a seal named Vigri symbolised the sailing competitions at the 1980 Games, which were held in Tallinn.

Find out more about the Moscow 1980 Olympic Games on olympic.org