Fans at the Olympics are trading commemorative pins from different countries

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

There's a side sport taking place in Paris right now on the fringes of the Summer Games - trading commemorative Olympic pins. Small metal pins covered in colorful enamel paints, marking past and present games from around the world, but also pins from national teams, news organizations, brands, and even specific people - one of the hottest pins at this year's games is from Snoop Dogg, who's working as an NBC commentator. His pin shows the rapper standing in front of the Eiffel Tower, blowing his trademark smoke rings in the shape of the five Olympic rings.

Pins have a long history. At the first modern Olympics in 1896, athletes, coaches, and reporters wore little cardboard badges for identification. Ever since, host countries have created their own designs and other organizations have hopped aboard the craze. The Corona virus pandemic kept visitors to a minimum at the last two Olympics. So the pin trade has seen a massive resurgence this year in Paris. Athletes at the original Olympic games in ancient Greece apparently did not get to wear cool pins like these, probably because they didn't wear any clothes at all while competing. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.