Kris Reyes

A much needed dose of ❤️

Met a lifelong pin trader today. For those new to Olympics culture, it’s a very popular activity. Some might say it’s unofficial sport of the Olympics.

Those who have been to multiple Games, have a collection of pins that they trade with others. The pins range from past Olympics to country specific insignia.

Up until I met Krassi from British Columbia, I just thought it was a quirky past time in between events.

But in our conversation, he taught me something deeper about the Games.

His first pin was when he was 10 years old. He was hooked.

He tries to go to one big sporting event a year. Hence, the many pins. Most are safe in his home, the ones on his scarf is his currency.

He doesn’t sell them on eBay. He never pays money for them. He’s a trader, pure and simple.

Usain Bolt gave him one.

Every pin is a priceless memory. Every pin is a face, a person with a story.

Krassi was pretty pragmatic about the corporate nature of the Games. Someone has to pay for the training, and the athletes, and the pins :)

But pin trading is free, he reminded me.

And I witnessed for myself the cultural exchange that happens in the process of trading the pins. A conversation, eye to eye contact, a sharing of country and cultural facts.

This is the Olympic legacy, I think. So human. Driven by fans who love to watch other humans, lay their hearts bare, push their spirit to the limit, all on the world stage.

Of course, you don’t show up to interview of pin trader empty-handed.

I got a trade in and didn’t think too hard about my choice.

Per Krassi’s advice -never refuse a trade and always go with the pin that calls to your heart.

Thanks for the capture, my Olympics partner-in-crime 📸