Back فينيسيوس وتوم Arabic Винисиус и Том Bulgarian Vinicius und Tom German Βινίσιους και Τομ Greek Vinícius y Tom Spanish وینیسیوس و تام Persian Vinicius et Tom French Vinicius i Tom Croatian ビニシウスとトム Japanese 비니시우스와 통 Korean
| Vinicius and Tom | |
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 Vinicius (left), the mascot of the Olympics, and Tom (right), the mascot of the Paralympics | |
| Mascots of the 2016 Summer Olympics and 2016 Summer Paralympics (Rio de Janeiro) | |
| Creator | Luciana Eguti and Paulo Muppet (Birdo) |
| Significance | A Brazilian hybrid animal and a Brazilian plant |
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| Part of a series on |
| 2016 Summer Olympics |
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| Part of a series on |
| 2016 Summer Paralympics |
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Vinicius ([viˈnisjus]; sometimes Vinícius[1]) is the official mascot of the 2016 Summer Olympics, and Tom is the official mascot of the 2016 Summer Paralympics. Both events were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The mascots were created by São Paulo-based animation company Birdo, which was selected by a national tender process that began in November 2012. Vinicius' design represents Brazilian fauna, combining aspects of cats, monkeys, and birds, while Tom's design represents Brazilian flora.
Tenders to create the mascots were only accepted from Brazilian companies. The final designs were unanimously selected in August 2013 by a panel of judges comprising media professionals and representatives from various Olympic organizations. They were revealed to the public without names on 23 November 2014. Following a three-week online vote which ended on 14 December 2014, the public named the two mascots after Vinicius de Moraes and Antônio Carlos "Tom" Jobim, the co-writers of the 1962 bossa nova song "The Girl from Ipanema".
Media involving the mascots includes various merchandise and a series of two-minute animated shorts that were broadcast on Cartoon Network Brazil. Plush dolls of Vinicius were provided to coaches during the Olympic wrestling events to throw into the ring when they wished to challenge a referee's call, a practice many observers found humorous. All Paralympic medalists received a plush doll of Tom, with the leaves on Tom's head the same color as their respective medals. Multiple observers have praised the appearance of the mascots.
- ^ The official website of the mascots uses Vinicius (without diacritics); however, some Portuguese secondary sources use Vinícius (with an accent over the second "i"). See:
- "Mascotes Rio 2016 - Site Oficial". Rio 2016 (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 22 September 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
- Malta, Jéssica (5 August 2016). "Começa o reinado de Vinícius e Tom, mascotes dos Jogos Rio-2016". Hoje em Dia (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
- GloboEsporte.com (14 December 2014). "Vinícius e Tom são os nomes escolhidos para os mascotes de 2016". Globo.com (in Portuguese). Globo Comunicação e Participações. Archived from the original on 5 July 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
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