Initial Volunteer Purgatory Converts to Epic Milan Games -- The Rest of the Story, Olympin Edition

The Games of Milano proved among the best ever for many. 

Some ask what this site was quiet during the Olympics. The easy answer is I was simply too busy enjoying the Milan experience, sans mental bandwidth for writing. You wake up, shower, grab a bite then it's off to the Games until dragging home at 1 a.m. to sort the day's intake of memories, memorabilia and pins. 

On the request of the Olympin newsletter editors, there was finally some post-Milan time to jot down stories and illustrate where so much time and energy went in Italy and since. 

What follows is an expansion of the article published in the club's March edition, plus more photos. Enjoy! With additional non-pin stories of 2026 to follow in future posts. And for anyone reading who is a pin collector and not already a member, consider joining Olympin for its many benefits. 

And now, the start to and ... the rest of the story:

Epic! That was pin trading at Milano Cortina. But for this writer, not from the start.

Feb. 1 arrival at the city’s Linate airport inspired nervousness, as only a handful of volunteers and the pair of Belgian athletes they assisted with luggage all proved pinless.

Attempted trades with airport employees also bore no fruit as their newly issued Olympic staff pins were decidedly divisa ufficiale (not to be exchanged). And the airport shops plus the Official Store near Duomo, visited that first night in town, were scant of pins. Hardly the envisioned Benvenuto to Italy!

Settling into Hotel Cita Studi brought comfort, but the question lingered: Where are the pins?

The next day proved encouraging, with about 20 trades completed while fitting my volunteer uniform and receiving accreditation for the Games. My mix of “vintage” Atlanta 1996 and Calgary ’88 pin varieties (including an abundance of Jeep pins) proved quite popular in a couple of trades aboard Milan’s metro system. By evening, day one’s haul of, say, 25 inbound pins, instilled optimism.

Volunteering for this Olympiad—specifically, investing the time in the 18-month application, interview and online training process (a bureaucratic mess)—of course made all the difference. Though discouraging to be wait-listed on the “Reserve” volunteer force (aka Purgatorio) from December to late January, fellow Olympin member and volunteer Nippy Feldhake put in a word for me with the IOC’s Games Family Services (formerly Protocol) manager and around Jan. 31 my accreditation was initially upgraded to include work and access at the IOC Hotels (Westin and NH).

Anyone hip to Games badging can appreciate my surprise when a seemingly errant “R”—as in “Residential Zone” of the Milan Olympic Village for athletes—appeared prominently on my I.D. at pickup. And on the morning of Feb. 2, I could not resist trying to enter the Village. Without surprise, however, the red light shone when the accreditation was scanned. Accesso negato!

“Go see the Accreditation Team in the tent,” said the Village security. Not at all optimistic, after about 10 minutes of data entry and some emails with managers, the junior accreditation staffer taught me an unfamiliar word: Caspito! Or in Western terms, SHAZAM!

The lighting strike, of course, was that my accreditation was not only upgraded, but they added access to ALL MILAN VENUES including the IOC hotels, main press center and Village.

Re-entering the athlete housing a few moments later, this time with a green light to do so, I quietly sat beside the in-Village Olympic Rings and cried happy tears, chuckling with joy for about 10 minutes, dumbfounded by the unheard-of stroke of good fortune.

And then it was time to start trading pins. While enjoying a self-guided tour of the Village, initial trades first emerged at the Polyclinic and each sponsor area. Samsung, TCL, Grana Padano, Alibaba, Technogym and Bauerfeind each had athlete experience spaces, mostly in a single building’s lobby, while Corona had a two-roomed beach hut lounge near the athlete dining hall, which I observed as strictly off limits to anyone without an “A” accreditation.

From the start, I was careful to play only a passive trading game: if an athlete spotted me/my pins, they could approach with interest, but there was no “chasing down” anyone, which made a bit of difference if/when security or Milano Cortina staff got curious. Street clothes—not the official volunteer garb—were my trading “uniform” which drew a few curious staffers who mostly shrugged off any concern once a trade was initiated. More Jeep pin magic!

Meanwhile, my first actual volunteer assignment was set for the afternoon of Feb. 6 to help IOC members with transport and check-in at the Opening Ceremony. What extraordinary, combined gifts of all play and no work!

On Feb. 3, I arrived at the Village right at opening time to find the celebrity Team NL athlete, speedskater Jutta Leerdam, was in line behind me. With some intention I lingered then generally walked in step with her entourage to the Netherlands team building, where the group, I accurately predicted, had to wait for an elevator, providing just enough time to trade with Jutta, two teammates and her coaches, yielding my first prize pin of Milan: The “I heart Jutta” puppy pin her family created (limited to 50, said Jutta) and a mix of Team NL pins and orange clogs, which I found to be schoon!

Though walking away I kicked myself for passing on a selfie option, the next day I met Jutta for the second time while Italy’s President toured the Village. Would Jutta trade another puppy pin? No. But she did smile for the camera and share some stories of her other first-day trades. 

See below for more about the third time speaking with Jutta. 

By this second day in the Village, a routine started taking shape, which involved displaying a single and curated pin book page of traders on a picnic table in the Coca-Cola athlete lounge. By displaying fewer pins, this encouraged athletes and other passersby to trade faster.

Fellow trader Olga—daughter of Olympin member Oleg Vorontsov—enjoyed access via NOC Village Day Passes, and on this day she emerged as an informed and enthusiastic partner as our athlete engagement styles complemented versus competed. She was also savvy to avoid any interaction that could disrupt an athlete’s concentration or experience, and the hours of trading—sometimes including 100 to 125 exchanges in an afternoon or evening—was magic well into competition dates.

Once the Games got underway, and the Looney Tunes Pin Trading Center opened thanks to Warner Bros., Honav and numerous trading volunteers recruited and organized by Scott Reed, my daily pin trading activities evolved from intown trading at The Center, suburban exchanges at the Village or venues, and on the metro rides or in the Milan restaurants. So many people were donning pins, there was trading potential around every corner of the city, and the daily pin hauls averaged out in the 75 to 125 range.

While many agree each pin and conversation creates a new memory, the following interactions—some once in a lifetime—stand out from Milan, my 13^th Games, in no particular order:

·        Congratulating Leerdam on her gold medal in the speedskating venue mixed zone (our third convo). As fellow reporters witnessed, I said, “Kudos on the win! Now your pin is exponentially more valuable!” to which she pointed at me and replied, “Thanks! I remember you, and no, you cannot have another pin!” (her pin video: https://bit.ly/JuttaLeerdamPins).

·        Discovering that after trading with Team USA’s speedskaters in the Village, boyfriend-girlfriend teammates Cooper McLeod and Greta Meyers selected one of my Olympic Rings And Other Things website pins among their favorites (Instagram.com/p/DUWalfVjNDi/).

·        Realizing Spain’s ice dancer Olivia Smart  also shared a description of our exchanges online only hours before her engagement to Jean-Luc Baker (Instagram.com/p/DUa47LBjwBG/).

·        Learning that my question to Olympic championErin Jackson—“Will you have your own pin in Milan?”—posed at the Olympic Trials in Milwaukee, got an answer when Jackson walked up to me smiling on the street at the Milan Olympic Village, stating, “I have something for you!” In her hand was one of her own pins as a thank you for one gifted to her in Wisconsin.

·        Exiting the Village one evening to witness Alysa Liu and her coach arriving by Uber. “Thanks for commenting on my Media Summit videos of you—want to trade pins?” I inquired, to which Liu answered, “Are you kidding? YES, of COURSE!” She gifted me a TODAY Show pin and traded a U.S. Figure Skating for a Tina pin while her coach, an Italian Olympian who competed in Torino, shared stories from his Games. When I commented how unbelievably calm they both were, only 24 hours before Liu won gold, they both just shrugged, giggled and said thanks as we leaned in for a photo. Of course, in all the excitement my last question—to what extent was her hairstyle inspired by Berlin lead singer Terri Nunn in the “Take My Breath Away” music video?—went unasked.

·        More Village trades with hockey players from most of the 10 women’s teams, yielding an average of five to 10 NOC pins per nation. The same was true of figure skaters and speedskaters, of which many were eager to offload their Alibaba “robot pin ball” exchanges or their Grana Padano “cheese pins” received free with a sample cube of the good stuff.

·        Sharing conversations and pin stories with Team USA’s Brittany Rowe and Hillary Knight to learn hours later of their engagement (congrats!).

·        Numerous trades with Coca-Cola Village staff members with their seemingly unlimited supply of the now-iconic “poster stamp” pins for each Italian venue.

·        Exchanging for Corona’s snowboard Olympic pins, which only arrived at their Village bar and lounge on the final Thursday of the Games.

·        Meeting a Canadian couple whose wife worked in Olympic media—specifically coverage of the opening and closing ceremonies—from Sydney to PyeongChang. They sought to downsize their collection of rare ceremony and media pins in exchange for a few specific Milan pins serendipitously on hand, yielding 150 inbound pins for my collection, trades or future sale items (I still owe them some key Paris pins).

·        Discussing figure skating costumes, music and training during an extended conversation with Team Belgium skaters Loena Hendrickx and Nina Pinzarrone (translated surname: pin jar), who was one of those pinless athletes arriving at Milan Linate Airport.

·        Talking venues, pins and the Closing Ceremony plans for Nice, France, with an official observer from the 2030 French Alps Organizing Committee while waiting to purchase drinks at Olympic hockey.

·        Meeting Utah 2034 observers and trading for the dated Life Elevated Utah spinner pin.

·        Gifting pins to most of the Team NL medalists in the long track speedskating venue after each attended evening competitions. Gold medalist Femke Kok stated “this is a great one!” of my blog pin for her sport.

·        Riding the athlete bus from speedskating to the Village after taking a wrong turn and encountering an eagle-eyed volunteer who spotted the credential “T” and offered transport.

·        Discovering that same “T” enabled me to summon Ubers booked by Milano Cortina organizers, sparing me a few metro rides later in the Games. When one of the volunteer drivers dropped me at the figure skating arena’s accredited entrance, I could not enter, but this created a serendipitous reunion with my Torino 2006 colleague of 20 years ago (who now works at Visa).

·        Attempting to gift a pin to Italian President Sergio Mattenella, leading instead posing with the Presidential Guard and posting a video of their Village Olympic Rings photo session, yielding over 90,000Instagram views @NicholasWolaver.

·        Befriending a Milano Cortina fulltime employee from their transportation department, inviting her to use my extra Opening Ceremony ticket, leading to post-ceremony access to the IOC member suites at San Siro and a kind invitation to the MiCo headquarters transportation command center on the day of one of those mountain venue blizzards. Their team had a special disaster training pin themed “Embrace the Scenario!”

·        Discovering the World Olympians Association OLY House Hub in Milan’s Monumentale metro station, meeting Olympian Sandrine Billiett and learning about their great work.

·        Serendipitously encountering about 15 Japanese reporters/crew from NHK eagerly awaiting interviews with retiring speedskating champion Miho Takagi. Most wore NHK pins not yet traded by week two of the Games, yielding over a dozen inbound varieties of their network’s Olympic media pins from Milan and Paris in a five-minute trading bonanza!

·        Brief, albeit accidental, pin trade with Deloitte’s Global Board Chair after briefly asking her husband, a Games newbie, where he got his nice Deloitte snowflake pin.

·        Gifting Olympic bronze medalist Gracie Gold a blog pin as thanks for answering questions about her book “OutofShapeWorthlessLoser” and ADHD awaiting coffee in the Village.

·        Trading for two hometown 11 Alive NBC Atlanta pins live on the air from Milan Galleria.

·        Discovering the Prosecco hospitality experience a few steps from the Omega popup pavilion in Central Milan. Their two-level suite included options to enjoy a wine tasting, Grana Pagano cheese samples, a trio of pin designs (Prosecco staff, bottle and bottle cap) and the perfect sofa to watch Team USA defeat Team Canada in the men’s hockey final.

·        Multiple meals, storytelling sessions and puns shared with Keep The Flame Alive’s Jill Jaracz and Alison Brown, brief conversations with USA Today’s Christine Brennan, visits with Journal of Olympic History editor Philip Barker (including a day at ISOH’s special session on AI with partner organizations including AICO, which created that gorgeous gold Duomo pin), and the Washington Post’s Les Carpenter. Just one of these interactions yielded pins but a chance meeting with The Athletic’s Lukas Weese resulted in a large feature report on pin collecting published by The New York Times (link: https://bit.ly/MilanPinsNYT).

Special shout-outs for Scott Reed and Jim Goddard who helped me re-supply trading material when I ran out mid-Games. Kudos also to Honav USA’s Mario and Marcelo for creating such a dynamic meeting point in Milan enjoyed by thousands of visitors per day. And the biggest thanks goes to Nippy Feldhake for the introduction to my volunteer manager who, for various reasons, set me up with the aforementioned opening ceremony assignment and never again had a shift for me to work  as some miscalculations by the organizing committee yielded a team of volunteers like me who had great access but no work to do, but they let us keep the credentials, which brings me to my final Games acquisitions.

On the morning after attending the Main Press Center Wrap Party, a tradition immediately following the Closing Ceremony, I visited the IOC Hotel to pick up the last of my volunteer pins. With many IOC members and staff departing from Milan, several were generous with exchanges or gifting pins. I was this close to trading for an IOC Session Badge but the offer switched instead to two boxes of fine cocoa candies from Lausanne in Olympic rings-emblazoned boxes, proving again, “Life is like a box of chocolates … you never know what you’re gonna get.”

Some pin favorites in order: I (heart) Jutta, Hong Kong China Skating Union, Flo food pins, Carabinieri security with rings, Team China laughing Tina and panda, Team Deutschland, Uzbekistan spaghetti, Qazaqstan (Kazakhstan) snow leopard in snow globe, AICO’s giant gold Duomo, No Ice Milano, Team Santa/North Pole Delegation, Corona Olympic snowboard, Hong Kong China ice cream truck, Torre Valasca Milano, Deloitte snowboarding, Alfa Romeo downhill skiing, Reuters, Switzerland Volunteers, Mexico “big cat” and Allianz luger with pretzel.

Least favorite: Coach Snoop—love the entertainer, but why the pin designed with a shrunken head?

And there were three mishaps preventing a perfect Games: Missing Coach Snoop’s Village visit by about 10 minutes after taking the wrong tram; engaging Trinidad & Tobago bobsledders for a trade, only to misplace their pin during an Uber ride; and the airline leaving my checked bags in Atlanta (eventually resolved).

For this collector, who stopped counting at around trade No. 1,200 and returned to Atlanta with around 1,500 new pins (in some cases, 10 or more of the same design), Milan may never be surpassed for its ranking among attended Games. Epic, indeed!

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver may not be used without written permission.