CBC's Andrew Chang in Rio: Meet the mascot
CBC Vancouver host checks out an Olympic gift shop and Rio's new mascots
One of the first stops I had to make was to one of the local Olympic gift shops. It's the usual fare: mugs, key chains, pins, T-shirts, and yes — stuffed versions of the official Olympic mascots.
The primary mascot is Vinicius: a cat-monkey thing with orange socks. He's supposed to be a mishmash of Brazilian animals, representing the agility of felines, the swagger of apes, and the lightness of birds.
He has a superpower that allows him to extend his arms and legs, but according to local lore, he never uses his special ability when competing against others.
Oh, and all that symbolism comes at a price. Each stuffed toy will set you back 115 reals, which works out to about $45 CAD. So to purchase all the stuffed animals you see in the above photo, you'd have to shell out well over a thousand bucks.
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