Meet the Olympic superfans: 'I have 5,000 pins stored in shoe boxes'

euronews (in English)

For the first time in Olympic Games history, trinket collectors have their own official trading space. For many, treasuring Olympic memorabilia is a gold medal sport in itself.

Transcript

00:00You don't need to be a world-class athlete to feel a part of the Olympics. For some,

00:13collecting memorabilia is a gold medal sport in itself. We've come to a fan zone on the

00:17outskirts of Paris to speak with some superfans and collectors.

00:21This is the first time ever that collectors have their own dedicated space.

00:25The start of the Olympic collection is the timbre, but today the timbres have decreased

00:32a lot, especially the pins. And then there's everything that has to do with the Olympics.

00:37So there are tickets to the Olympic Games, postcards, timbres, magazines, winter objects,

00:43mascots.

00:44Eighty-seven-year-old Robert Prat from Monaco has been collecting pins for 40 years.

00:50I started collecting pins and medals at the age of 40, everything that is metallic, on

00:57the Olympic Games. So I currently have about 5,000 official coins from all the games from

01:07all over the world. It's my pleasure. I'm not interested in selling the money at all.

01:13Catherine Salin brought her collection of pins to Paris for the duration of the Games.

01:18I think you can call me a superfan because since 1992 I've played 14 Olympic Games,

01:24either summer or winter. So Paris will be my 15th game.

01:29There may be an official trading space, but collectors also exchange elsewhere.

01:33When I bring pins that I have not paid a lot of money for, if I can trade them or sell

01:37them for more than I paid, it will help reduce the cost of my trip.

01:40To see somebody with a bag like this or a lanyard with pins on them, that means that

01:45they're willing to trade, so it's okay to go up to them and talk to them. It's not just

01:48the revenue side, but the interaction. It's fun to talk to people.

01:51For collectors, Olympic memorabilia is at the heart of telling the Games story.

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