MILAN — Away from the thrills of hockey and the dazzles of figure skating, another type of sport takes place at the Milan Cortina Olympic Games. Just before 10 a.m. local time on Friday, there’s a 30-person line at Via Carlo de Cristoforis, near the vibrant street of Corso Como in central Milan. These eager individuals are looking to enter the official Olympic pin trading center.
Olympic pin trading takes place throughout Milan and Cortina. Enter an Olympic venue or walk around the Duomo di Milano, Milan’s iconic landmark, and you will see people with large pin collections, willing to barter. But the Olympic pin trading center is where you’ll find the largest collection of pins in Milan, representing past, present and future Games.
“This is the first (center) they’ve had in a few Olympics,” said Nicholas Wolaver, a board member of the International Society of Olympic Historians and one of the collectors at the trading center.
Over 2,000 people walk through the doors of the trading center each day, its hours 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Upon arrival, visitors are immediately met with a floor painted in Olympic colors and cardboard structures of Looney Tunes characters participating in winter sports: Bugs Bunny skiing, the Tasmanian Devil playing hockey. This is an homage to Warner Bros., the main sponsor of the trading center.
Pins from past Olympic Games are among the most sought-after. (Lukas Weese / The Athletic)
As attendees enter the central area, they flock to the official Milan Olympics pins — some depict the classic Olympic rings, others portray the Games’ beloved mascots, Tina and Milo — which you have to purchase.
But the magic of Olympic pin trading is the collectors. Eight circular stations are set up, where collectors present their pins for others to view and trade. In total, 50 have set up shop at the center during these Games. Known as “pinheads,” they travel from around the world to trade.
Pinheads lay out their pins in an organized manner for potential traders to view. Some separate their pins in a binder by Olympic years, in case an attendee has a specific request.
Tina, one of the beloved mascots of the Milan Cortina Games, is featured on some of the official Olympic pins available for purchase at the pin trading center. (Maja Hitij / Getty Images)
Wolaver’s collection includes between 4,000 and 5,000 pins. He hauled about 1,000 to Milan.
“I mostly collect National Olympic Committee pins, the countries that compete, media pins and bid pins, whatever city is competing to win the games,” said Wolaver, who is from Atlanta.
The Milan Olympics are the eighth Games Wolaver has attended. The 1996 Atlanta Games are where pin trading boomed, he remembers. The Varsity, one of the largest drive-in restaurants in Atlanta, became the hub for 24/7 trading.
According to Wolaver, before Milan, the 2018 PyeongChang Games were the last to include an official pin trading center. There was an improvised setup in Paris 2024 where attendees created their own pop-up centers.
Scott Reed, also from Atlanta and one of the collectors at the pin trading center, was one of those attendees. He appreciates that the Milan pin trading center feels more organized and official compared to previous Games.
“Paris was sort of ad hoc,” Reed said, who has also been to eight Olympic Games. “It was at the last minute. This was more planned, and it’s more family-oriented.”
The origins of pin trading go back to 1896, at the inaugural Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Credentials could not be printed with a photograph back then, so the pin was the official accreditation to identify officials and athletes. They began as wooden badges before evolving into pins at the London 1908 Games. The first pins were traded at the 1924 Paris Olympics, and the frenzy never died.
For Greg Denardo, the Olympics have a personal connection. His grandfather, Renato Gardini, competed at the 1912 Stockholm Games for Italy in wrestling.
Denardo, who is from Orlando, Fla., is attending his 13th Olympics; his first was the 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid. His collection is close to 15,000. He has several luge pins because he was a luge judge at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. Denardo’s station in Milan is one of the most popular at the Olympic pin trading center due to his vast collection of pins from past Games.
Collector Greg Denardo shows off his vast collection of Olympic pins. (Lukas Weese / The Athletic)
But the most popular pins vary. For example, Denardo’s NBC and Delta Air Lines pins, featuring a spinning plane, ran out quickly. According to Wolaver, the most sought-after pins are the ones Snoop Dogg created, either depicting his face or his record label, Death Row Records. Smaller countries’ Olympic committee pins are a hit because they are so rare.
A newer trend is athletes creating their own pins and distributing them to fellow athletes and regular people. Dutch speedskater Jutta Leerdam, who won gold in the women’s 1,000-meter and silver in the 500-meter, had custom pins made depicting her golden retriever, Thor, wearing a gold shirt that says “I Heart Jutta.”
@juttaleerdamNow Thor is with me wherever I go♬ son original – CAMILO
Wolaver was able to snag one. Now, they are almost impossible to locate.
“I was lucky to find her and trade before she knew what was going on,” Wolaver said. “That pin has exponentially exploded in value because she won a gold.”
According to a press release by Warner Bros., over 15,000 fans will have entered the pin trading center by the time the Olympics conclude, with over 1,200 pins sold each day.
Trading pins embodies the Olympic spirit of bringing people from around the world together, and Wolaver believes the success of Milan’s trading center will lead to even bigger operations for Los Angeles 2028, the first Summer Olympics in the U.S. since Atlanta.
“I believe that (Warner Bros.) have been very happy with how this turned out, and will seek to repeat it, but probably on a much larger scale,” Wolaver said. “I think that maybe they would look at having two or three of them around town, because the venues are spread out.”
And Wolaver expects we’ll see even more athletes participating as collectors.
“I’ve had some incredible trades with athletes, and they’re very generous with the trades,” he said. “With all the pins everywhere, you have to be ready or have a couple in your pocket.”
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