Olá a todos! Hey everyone! Vocês curtem esportes? Are you into sports?

The long-awaited for Olimpíadas de Tóquio (Tokyo Olympics) are now in full-swing. Watching os jogos (the games) is a hugely entertaining experience, with both thrilling and dramatic moments that really keep us in our toes. And this major global event would not be o mesmo (the same) without an important presence: os mascotes (the mascots).

Whether we ganhamos ou perdemos (win or lose), these cute and widely popular personagens (characters) play a huge role in cheering us up, in addition to homenagear (paying tribute to) our cultures.

A onça pintada (Photo by Pixabay on Pexels)

You probably know about the host country’s Miraitowa and Someity, faced with the hard task of representing an Olympics being held during a pandemic, with fewer spectators and several restrictions. But what do you know about our querido (dear) mascot Ginga? Well, here is tudo que você precisa saber (all you need to know) about him:

Sobre o animal | About the animal:

First officially introduced for the 2016 Olympic games, Ginga is uma onça pintada (a jaguar), o maior (the largest) feline in the American continent and third largest no mundo (in the world). This strong yellow wild cat covered in pintas (spots) lives in the florestas tropicais (rainforest) and stands no topo da cadeia alimentar (at the top of the food chain). Quite the exemplo (role model) for our atletas (athletes), huh?

Ginga is also meant to raise awareness for causas ambientais (environmental causes). The jaguar is considered a quase ameaçada (near threatened) species, largely due to caça predatória (poaching) and destruction of their natural habitat. Having Ginga in the spotlight might help boost conservation initiatives.

Sobre o nome | About the name:

But what does the word ginga mean? Although of African origin, ginga has made its way into the Brazilian vocabulary, commonly used to refer to a smooth, quick and skillful movimento corporal (body movement) that could apply to dancing and, of course, sports!

Check out Ginga’s video on Youtube:

Para a criançada (for the children), you can hit the link below to download a Ginga máscara de papel (paper mask) and a boneco de papel (paper doll):

My selfie with Ginga (Photo: my own)

http://www.cobinstitucional.org.br/mascote/assets/downloads/mascara.pdf

http://www.cobinstitucional.org.br/mascote/assets/downloads/paper_toy.pdf

 You can also scroll through Ginga’s website in Portuguese to learn more about our Olympics buddy while also practicing your language skills – You can even take a selfie with him (I certainly did!): http://www.mascoteginga.com.br/. 

E vocês, têm acompanhado as olimpíadas? Have you guys been keeping up with the Olympic games? Qual é o mascote do seu país? What’s your country’s mascot? Leave you comments below!