many people thought this was funny. nbc sports commentators started to call vinicius "the challenge mascot". dustin nelson, a news writer for the website "thrillist", wrote that the mascot took "a little of the anger out of a challenge". jason bryant, the official commentator for wrestling at the 2016 olympics, was surprised to see this at the olympics because there is a lot of emphasis on "protocol" at the olympics. however, byrant eventually said that it does not matter what the challenge object is if it has cultural importance to the location of the competition. coach mike malinconico argued that the olympic organizers should not have done this.