Womens Team Foil and Cheburashka
Congratulations to the U.S. Women’s Foil Team who brought home an unexpected silver medal! It’s really great to see our ladies doing so well in Beijing. Word is that the USOC is going to give them good promotion this time around which hopefully we can translate to more interest in fencing.
Also congratulations to the other medaling teams, Russia (Gold) and Italy (Bronze). I watched the medal ceremony with interest as the Russian ladies came up to the medal stand with little red fuzzy critters. With a little help I was able to dig up more info. The character is Cheburashka, virtually unknown on this side of the globe but wildly popular in Russia and Japan.
He’s a fictional creature from Russian children’s literature, and the mascot for the Russian Olympic team. You can find out more about Cheburashka here and here, and a little about his history with the Russian Olympic team here.
It’s interesting how other countries are far more mascot-happy than we are here in the U.S. Is there a cultural reason for this or are they simply wise to the fact that cuddly animals sell like crazy? Maybe a little of both. Check out the Mascot Page for more. And if anyone has a picture of Cheburashka here with a foil in hand, please let me know!
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