SALT LAKE CITY — With the Winter Olympics expected to return to Utah in 2034, pin trading will likely be a major attraction for fans attending the Games.
Besides impressive athletics with an audience around the globe, Salt Lake City resident Janet Grissom knows of the excitement of Olympic pins.
“The pins for Salt Lake [2002] are just beautiful,” she said.
Grissom volunteered during the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics. After trading just one pin with an athlete, she was hooked.
“I knew about the pins but I thought this is a hobby that I could get too obsessed about, so I sort of avoided it,” she said.
Her prediction came true after acquiring that first pin.
Trade after trade, her collection grew to roughly 10,000.
“That's the way it works with people,” Grissom said. “They don’t know they’ll be traders until they get into it.”
Grissom, a medical doctor in her day job, is known as the "pin doctor" in the pin trading world.
The activity is a fixture at every Olympic Games.
Many fans buy pins they can trade with foreign tourists, athletes, dignitaries and media members.
Grissom believes the connections made with people from across the country and the globe are more valuable than the actual pins.
“My collection is important but what's most important for me is the experience of meeting people,” she said. “And you don’t even need to know the language.”
If Utah is awarded the 2034 Olympics later this summer, Grissom expects to see a new collection of pins released around 2029.
She plans to add to her collection during what is sure to be an unforgettable event that only comes to Utah once or twice in a lifetime.
“It was so fun,” she said. “It was basically like being in a different place. It was so cool and it was so fun. I can’t wait for them to come back.”
Grissom has traveled to several Olympic Games and adds to her collection at each event.
She believes the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics had some of the best designs including those displaying the mascots and local cuisine.
