Lesik the baby fox was unveiled today as the mascot for the 2nd European Games in Minsk, Belarus.

Lesik represents friendship, development, harmony, discipline, determination, cheerfulness, invincibility and vigour!

How? You are all surely familiar with novella The Little Prince, written by Frenchman Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. As the story goes, the Little Prince came to Earth and befriended a little fox, who taught the boy about many things, including the meaning of friendship.

The story of our baby fox Lesik begins when the Little Prince returned home, leaving Earth and Lesik behind. Having made such a good friend in the Prince, Lesik quickly missed him and all he could think about was finding new friends.

He walked all over his neighbourhood in search of friends, which helped his legs grow very strong. He listened very hard in hopes he could hear friends, which made his ears grow large. One day he heard the story of a legendary flower called the Paparats Kvetka (fern flower) that could make all his dreams come true, but he would have to travel to Belarus to find it.

Belarus was far away from Lesik’s home, but he decided that if was to find true friendship again, he would have to make the journey. (Thanks to his fitness tracker, Lesik knows it took a million steps to reach Belarus – but it was worth it!)

Lesik now has many friends and wants to make even more! He invites everyone around the world to visit him in Belarus and to see the Paparats Kvetka in person. And what a better time to do so than in 2019, the year of the European Games Minsk 2019 from 21-30 June!

So come and meet Lesik, he’s pretty easy to spot with his red hat (which represents vigor), white and green shirt (harmony), black shorts (discipline and determination), blue shoes (invincibility of his character), and yellow fur (cheerfulness). They are also the colours of the Paparats Kvetka design on the logo of the European Games in Minsk! As Lesik’s cap says, 2019 will be the brightest year of his life and the brightest year for sports in Europe!