Brazil Olympic mascots named after 'Girl from Ipanema' composers

The mascots for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be named 'Tom' and 'Vinicius' after the singer-songwriters who wrote The Girl from Ipanema, organisers said on Sunday.

The names won 44 percent of votes in an online poll and were revealed on Brazilian TV show Fantastico.

The Olympic mascot will be named after Antonio Carlos Jobim, who was known more commonly as 'Tom'.

The Paralympic mascot is named after Vinicius de Moraes.

The pair were instrumental in the development of bossa nova music and wrote dozens of songs together, most famously the tale of a young girl who passed their bar each day as she walked to Ipanema beach.

The announcement came 600 days before the start of the games, the first ever to be held in South America.

Image: The mascots of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games are pictured with the Copacabana beach in the background during their first appearance in Rio de Janeiro

Photograph: Alex Ferro/COB/Handout via Reuters