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Special Feature<br />
GAMES<br />
COUNTRIES AND<br />
ATHLETES<br />
• There will be 28 Olympic sports across<br />
42 disciplines during the <strong>2016</strong> Summer<br />
Games. These include:<br />
Archery, Cycling Track, Modern<br />
Pentathlon, Badminton, Rowing,<br />
Taekwondo, Synchronised Swimming,<br />
Water Polo, Wrestling and two new<br />
additions, Rugby Sevens and Golf.<br />
Golf returns after 112 years and Rugby<br />
Sevens after 92 years.<br />
Golf<br />
Rugby Sevens<br />
• A total of 206 countries will be<br />
competing at the Games. All<br />
countries are member nations of<br />
the International Olympic<br />
Committee (IOC). They include:<br />
Afghanistan, Brunei, Great Britain,<br />
Indonesia, Nepal, Syria and<br />
Malaysia! Kosovo and South Sudan<br />
are countries competing for the<br />
first time in the Olympic Games.<br />
MASCOT<br />
• Two mascots were chosen for the Games — Vinicius and Tom.<br />
Kosovo<br />
South Sudan<br />
Vinicius is named after one of Brazil’s<br />
most prominent 20th century cultural<br />
icons, Vinicius des Moraes, a renowned<br />
Brazilian poet, essayist, playwright<br />
and lyricist who composed his own<br />
'bossa nova' music and as an interpreter<br />
of his own lyrics, recorded several<br />
significant albums.<br />
Vinicius constitutes a blend of animals<br />
native to Brazil. He possesses the agility<br />
of a cat, the balancing skills of a monkey<br />
and the grace of a bird. He is capable of<br />
stretching out his arms and legs as long<br />
as he wants and he has a heightened<br />
sense of smell and hearing. When<br />
creating him, his designers drew<br />
inspiration from pop culture as well as<br />
video game and cartoon characters.<br />
With his colleague Tom, the mascot for<br />
the Paralympic Games, Vinicius<br />
represents the diversity of Brazilian<br />
culture and people, as well as their<br />
exuberant nature. Tom was named after<br />
Brazilian songwriter, composer, arranger,<br />
singer and guitarist Tom Jobim, who<br />
penned the words to the global hit song<br />
"Garota de Ipanema" (The Girl from<br />
Ipanema), which introduced 'bossa nova'<br />
music to the rest of the world at the<br />
beginning of the 1960s.<br />
Tom is a fusion of all the plants in the<br />
Brazilian forests. It was reported that the<br />
mascot said, "When I’m not running<br />
around, I like to open a book and learn<br />
about the world. I also love samba and<br />
all kinds of Brazilian music. I enjoy making<br />
friends and sharing what I know. My<br />
best friend is the Rio <strong>2016</strong> Olympic<br />
Games mascot."<br />
• There will also be a specific team<br />
of refugee athletes, a first for the<br />
Games, this year. The IOC has<br />
finalised the Refugee Olympic<br />
Athletes (ROA) and 10 athletes will<br />
be chosen to form the team. In<br />
order to qualify for the team,<br />
athletes must reach specific<br />
sporting standards and have<br />
official refugee status verified by<br />
the United Nations (UN). The team<br />
will compete under the Olympic<br />
Flag as Independent Olympians.<br />
Refugee Swimmer Yusra Mardini<br />
• Around 4,500 Paralympic athletes<br />
will be in Rio fighting for a medal<br />
across 23 Paralympic sports.<br />
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