Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, December 14, 2014 – The Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games mascots, who were nameless when introduced to the public back in November, are no longer anonymous. Meet “Tom” and “Vinicius”, the two names who were voted upon by fans from the short list of possibilities, which also included Oba/Eba and Tiba Tuque/Esquindim. NBC Sports reports that Tom and Vinicius “tallied 44 percent of the 323,327 fan votes.”
“Tom” is the Paralympic Games mascot, which symbolizes the fusion of all of the plants in the Brazilian forests.
“Vinicius” is the name for the character representing the mixture of all of the Brazilian animals.
According to nbcsports.com, Rio organizers explained the meaning behind Vinicius and Tom: “Vinicius and Tom honor musicians and partners Vinicius de Moraes and Tom Jobim. The two are exponents of Bossa Nova, a movement that made everyone know and sing about the beauties of Rio. They were the creators of The Girl from Ipanema, one of the most played songs in the world. A well-tuned duo, like our mascots.”
Fans can follow the mascots on Twitter under their new handels: @TomRio2016 @ViniciusRio2016
good names he says