The White House Welcomes Team USA Olympians/Paralympians of Milano Cortina

Frequently, since March, I wondered: When will Team USA Olympians and Paralympians of Milano Cortina enjoy the traditional visit to The White House?

Following periodic queries to the USOPC press team, and some weeks receiving/reviewing The White House press corps schedule emails following their instruction to subscribe, the answer finally arrived after bedtime 5 Aug, with fewer than 20 hours' advance notice. 

DAILY GUIDANCE AND PRESS SCHEDULE FOR AUG. 6

7:00 PM -- THE PRESIDENT participates in a Team USA Reception

Since this wasn't my first rodeo requesting media access to the Executive Mansion, before dozing I deployed overnight follow-up queries to the USOPC and the Office of Communications at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. By 9 a.m. Aug. 6, there was confirmation this was, in fact, Team USA of Milano Cortina, and by 9:20 a.m., with thanks to a responsive White House press assistant, access was confirmed with instructions to arrive at the security gate around 6 p.m. 

You know, the gate by the row of TV feed cameras, aka the one Charles Grodin drove through in "Dave" and at which the special courier arrived with a stack of hot off the press Washington Posts in "All the President's Men." 

By 10 a.m., with hotel and transit confirmed thanks to banked frequent flyer miles, I was off to ATL airport for an early D.C. touchdown around 3:40 p.m. 

I simply love the approach to DCA, and this visit provided jackpot views of the monuments and Patomac. Then, following an easy Metro ride to the city center, by 4:30 there was time for a quick bite and hotel check-in, then the short hike at 5:30 for the event. 

During the walk, there was time to reflect on past Team USA visits to The White House, some of which are summarized in an official backgrounder. 

My first was in 2016 with President Obama welcoming the Rio team to the East Room, then following the PyeongChang Games of 2018, President Trump was the host for a chilly North Portico ceremony. 

But I had been watching reports of Team USA or Olympic Torch Relay visits as far back as 1984, though the tradition dates back even earlier, in various formal or informal formats.

This blogger's visits three and four took place on the South Lawn with President Biden in 2022 (combining athletes from the pandemic Games of Tokyo and Beijing) and in 2024 after Paris (oops, forgot to write about that one, so no matching link), respectively. 

While the logistics and time of day varied for each Olympiad, I've grown to count on time to appreciate the James Brady Press Room and selfie spots along the walk up from the security gate. Any visit to The White House is special.

And after receiving on-site instructions to hold up in the Press Briefing Room until our escorts arrived, it was a short hurry-up-and-wait before the White House Press Corps. trekked through the Palm Room doors, through the ground-floor corridor and up a carpeted staircase to the East Room in which Team USA athletes were walking accompanied by "Tonight" from "West Side Story" played by the U.S. Marine Band. Our press risers were along the long, west wall of the ballroom, with rows of seated VIPs and cameras facing the athletes on risers between large portraits of George and Martha Washington. 

Minutes later, the music changed to "Hail To The Chief" and the President took the podium.

"It's a real honor to be with stars," said President Trump. "I like being with stars!" 

And for about 15 minutes, the Commander in Chief mostly stayed on script with remarks I suspect were a mashup of talking points from the USOPC and White House speechwriting team. After welcoming and introducing the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury as well as the USOPC's leaders Gene Sykes and Sarah Hirshland, Trump took time to introduce each gold medalist by name, starting with Danny O'Shea, occasionally pausing and stepping to shake hands with each Olympic and Paralympic champion depending on their proximity to the podium.

"Strong legs! How do I get legs like that?" the president said of Jordan Stolz. 

Observing the presentation, more than once I thought to myself, this is actually pretty good. Most of my friends and family are aware of my POVs on the administrations 45 and 47, but the event seemed to break from some norms that usually get under my skin. 

Even after the event, a grizzled Press Corp. veteran near me commented to colleagues, "That was about the best Trump event of this term," in that his warmth for Team USA seemed heartfelt. 

Anyone can draw their own conclusions with the full video provided by The White House:

Two other observations stood out from the experience. 

First, while every Olympian is worthy of brand name status, noticeably many of Team USA's most recognized champions -- think Alysa Liu, Mikaela Shiffrin, Erin Jackson, Elana Meyers Taylor or Lindsey Vonn -- were absent, which was partially explained through on background remarks: "Those [athletes] unable to attend are already back training for the 2030 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, reinforcing the continuous pursuit of excellence that defines Team USA."

Of Team USA's total 232 Olympians and 72 Paralympians for Milano Cortina, approximately 120 to "nearly half" (sources varied) attended the evening and the day's Athlete Summit organized by the USOPC. The men's hockey team visited The People's House in February, so their roster of athletes did not return, and two of the women's hockey champions -- Abbey Murphy and Joy Dunne, attended in place of the full roster. 

Second, in one of the brief instances when the president did veer off script (minutes 10 to 13 of the video), his remarks about "saving women's and college sports" drew a curious mix of athlete eyerolls or raised eyebrows or glares toward their feet, juxtaposed with a few fellow Olympians expressing nods of approval or brief applause. I was unable to see the reaction of Olympic champion Donna de Varona, seated with Sykes with their backs to the press tribune, given her leadership role with Women's Sports Policy Working Group. 

A shorter Trump improvisation I nicknamed "the FIFA nod" followed around minute 14, earning some confused looks, but soon thereafter there was a return to robust applause as the president delivered apt shout-outs to Utah 2034 and LA28 as upcoming home-turf opportunities for Team USA to shine. 

Then following a presentation of a team jacket and custom shoes delivered by six-time Paralympic skier Laurie Stephens and bobsled's Frank Del Duca, the president invited the athletes to follow him to the Oval Office for photo opps and to receive a special White House coin minted in their honor. 

Patiently waiting for the all-clear to exit the East Room, I chatted up some of the Olympic sponsor reps in the room, eventually trading a few five-ringed Calgary '88 Jeep pins for Milano Cortina skate pins from Deloitte, a sweet new palm tree LA28 pin from Cisco, and the most coveted jewel of the experience: Team USA's 2026 White House Visit pin, this time a 1.5-inch blue square (it was only later I noticed the designer's likely AI-enabled flaws including too many ground level arches and too few doors illustrating the mansion's south face). 

And maybe 10 minutes later, back in the Press Briefing Room, they called "lid" -- the lingo for the president's official appearances du jour coming to a close. With a brief thunderstorm raging outside, several reporters stayed for the showers to clear, thankful the East Room ceremony was a fun and dry success, moved at the last minute from the newly paved Rose Garden. 

Who could resist another pose at the podium?

The walk back to the hotel included a nice surprise. Waiting to cross H Street after exiting Lafayette Square, Team USA came into view again at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce headquarters, site for an afterglow gathering of VIP athletes and Team USA sponsors. 

Walking toward the main entry, the first bus of athletes simultaneously arrived, a jackpot of conversations and more pin exchanges, and peeks at the White House coins (unfortunately, my camera did not capture one, but a view is available here via skeleton athlete Austin Florian's Instagram). It was fun to briefly chat again with speedskaters Sarah Warren and Stolz, who seemed to recall our Olympic Village conversations and pin swaps of February (Sarah also encourages fans to attend the upcoming Long Track World Cup qualifying competitions at Pettit Center in Milwaukee and elsewhere, as listed by U.S. Speedskating). 

I also enjoyed a slightly longer post-event conversation with bobsledder Sophia Kirkby, the athlete who made her own ceramic pins as traders and gifts at the Cortina Olympic Village. She seemed genuinely pleased to receive a ceramic Olympic item my sister and I created last Christmas, and Kirkby was generous in gifting us two of her newest designs before answering some questions about July 4 travels for USA 250, her recent "engagement" and other dating adventures as celebrated on her Instagram, and the extent to which grief is a powerful force in life. 

My sincere wish is she'll be open to an extended interview about these and other topics on her journey to Alpes 2030.  

Image credits: Still from "All The President's Men" via Warner Bros.; all other photos by Nicholas Wolaver may not be used or reposted/reprinted without written permission. 

Where Will You Be In Two Years? For About 60,000 LA28 Volunteers: In Uniform and at Your Service

Two years from today, 14 July should be bursting with anticipation for the evening's LA28 Olympic Opening Ceremonies. 

And for up to 60,000 volunteers selected for the Games of the XXXIVth Olympiad, this date in 2026 marked the official start of their journey in service of the Olympic Family. 

In case you didn't already hear or read all about it, applications are now accepted from around the globe via Volunteer.LA28.org. 

The official press release and the home page of the Volunteer Portal reveal answers to most questions, with a few highlights:

• Be 18 or older when you apply, and plan to be available in Greater LA, Oklahoma City (site of
  two events), or the Olympic soccer cities of Columbus, Ohio, Nashville, Tenn., NYC, St. Louis, Mo., San Diego or San Jose, Calif.
• 
  Open to working 10 shifts during the Olympics or Paralympics (or both)
• Interest in one or two areas of focus: Ceremonies, Communications, Driving, Experience, Medical, Operations, Sport and/or Technology, with the option to designate preferences that one's professional or volunteer experiences and interests are a fit
• Six specialist areas that require some additional explanation of one's qualifications to support their interest for doping control, driving, emergency response, language proficiency, medical and security
• Acknowledgement of reading/understanding the Volunteer Charter
• General awareness of the answers to the Volunteer FAQ

An important detail I did not see specified: Learn the lyrics and whistling for the Guns N' Roses classic, 'cause this volunteer process requires five-ringed levels of patience. 

For Rio 2016 and Milano Cortina 2026 volunteering, after the general application was completed, several months passed before phases of the selection process got underway, and at a glance it seems LA28 is following a similar schedule. Scroll down to the base of this post for a screen grab listing the future stages along the left side of the webpage. 

For those selected for interviews, anticipate group video conference calls as a sort of chemistry check, then the real fun begins with all sorts of mandatory online video training modules. Once a role is assigned, then additional training follows, and so on and so forth until, at long last, it's time for the uniform distribution process. All of these phases and more are explained in the above links. 

It was pleasing to see that Olympic Champion Carl Lewis is an official ambassador of the volunteer program. After meeting him and conversing during Vancouver 2010 and later during the LA24 (turned LA28) bid process, he was among the most approachable and personable Olympians one could encounter, and it doesn't hurt he's an icon recognized worldwide. 

"Los Angeles has always shown up for me, and now it's our turn to show up for the world," said Lewis, via the LA28 press release. 

"If you want to be part of something historic, apply today. The role of a lifetime is waiting."                   -- Carl Lewis, Olympic Champion

So, did I register to volunteer for LA28? Absolutely, and the straightforward process took about 30 minutes. The system is set up to enable applicants to start, save and stop then return later for revisions. So, if one knows with certainty they prefer a specific sport assignment, but the distance to the venue is not yet calculated, there's time to research or percolate then adjust the application. 

A surprise of the process that may interest some not selected by LA28, the City of Los Angeles plans to launch its own Games-related volunteer portal early in 2027, with details and the option to get email updates via VolunteerIn2028.LAcity.gov. Could be a great backup option to contribute via the city's unaccredited media center or other hospitality initiatives. 

It was exciting to learn 6,000 to 8,000 volunteer assignments are up for grabs in my hometown Oklahoma City, according to this KFOR-TV 4 NBC local report.

It's also interesting to note that although some forms of unofficial Games volunteering took place from 1896 to 1936, it was London 1948 and Helsinki 1952 that generated more formal or organized volunteer options, with Lake Placid 1980 and LA84 solidifying the volunteer role, and Barcelona '92 really formalizing things, according to this IOC library page chock-full of other related trivia.

Photos and logos via LA28

Golden Anniversary Atlanta Film Festival Features Two Olympic-Tethered Films + Coffee's For Closers!

Three cheers as the 50th Atlanta Film Festival kicks off today, celebrating five decades of movies and Georgia's storied history, present and future with broadcast and big screen entertainment.

A couple of months ago, it was delightful to learn from ATLFF 50 Executive Director Christopher Escobar, who also champions the historic Plaza Theatre and Tara Atlanta cinemas (the latter a former pro-bono client), that one of this year's festival special presentation screenings is Clint Eastwood's compelling "Richard Jewell" starring Paul Walter Hauser as the doppelganger of the Centennial Olympic Park bombing hero-turned-suspect. 

If you're local and didn't already see "Richard Jewell" around its Dec. 2019 debut, the April 25 presentation at The Plaza is worth a look. 

Bonus: Hauser and others with the film, including one of the authors of "The Suspect" on which the screenplay was partially based, are slated to participate in a post-screening Q&A.

Another Olympic-tethered title also enjoys its Southern debut via ATLFF, with the new doc "The Brittney Griner Story" slated for a May 2 presentation at Tara. I'm still digesting some of the reports from the world premiere and Sundance, and the ESPN Films PR team is mum about filmmaker or the star athlete's potential attendance at the screening. 

I've been keenly interested in speaking with Griner for years, as I was also in the same Moscow airport the week of her arrest there, and her Olympic feats are amazing.

Other ATLFF 50 events that piqued my interest include:

• 
  Current client Mark Mori's feature doc "Baristas vs Billionaires" concerning the earliest days of Starbucks Workers United and the uphill battle they've waged, including their recent record-setting national strike. My engagement as the film's publicist began in the weeks before the film's world premiere at the Buffalo International Film Festival, at which contributing producer Alec
  "Coffee's for Closers!" Baldwin participated. The film's Georgia premiere was reported by GPB Radio, Rough Draft, Saporta Report and Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- please join us at Tara April 28
  
• Mori's first film, the Oscar-nominated doc "Building Bombs," opened the 1989 Atlanta Film & Video Festival (now ATLFF) and recently enjoyed a 4K restoration to debut at Tara April 28
• Another Legacy Screening, this time for 2007's futuristic "Blood Car." Have neither seen nor heard of it but the film's poster image of an axe-wielding driver and his scantily clad female passenger on the chase did catch my eye (The Plaza May 3)
• The filmed in Georgia world premiere of the narrative feature "THIRD" regarding what appears to be a new twist on a love triangle (at Tara April 24)
• "Carolina Caroline" as a crime/romance that, at a glance, smacks of "Natural Born Killers" vibe (Tara May 1)
• "B.F. Skinner Plays Himself" feature doc on the researcher much studied before my psychology major GPA got nuked by statistics class grades (C's and D's) at Minnesota State (The Plaza April 24).

This year's festival is much calmer for this publicist, blogger and film enthusiast as last year around this time we were deep in preparation for the ATLFF world premiere of "The Games in Black & White," a client film enabling my first IMDB credit but more importantly forged four Southeast Emmy nominations for Atlanta Story Partners filmmakers George Hirthler and Bob Judson, who teamed up much like their subjects Ambassador Andrew Young and Billy Payne. 

Their unlikely partnership to successfully bid for and deliver the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games is a most interesting and entertaining five-ringed treat, which also includes numerous Olympians and Olympic Family members. 

The film team is eager for the Emmy winner announcement on May 16 (to tide me over, the media relations for the film recently picked up a Georgia PRSA Phoenix Award and two ICey Independent PR Counselor certificates). 

Back to the Atlanta Film Festival, the Atlanta Film Society also presents its annual fundraiser the 2026 IMAGE Film Awards honoring seven individuals and organizations for their outstanding contributions to filmmaking in Georgia. This year's recipients include Oscar-nominee Josh Brolin, Primetime Emmy Winner Carrie Preston, BET Awards winner Will Packer, two-time Grammy-nominated comedian David Cross, Hilton Howell, Alex Orr and the team behind George Entertainment. All gala proceeds benefit the Atlanta Film Society's year-round mission and their presentation of the 50th Atlanta Film Festival.

Check out the full schedule, badge options, tickets, parties and more via the Atlanta Film Festival website. Hope to see you at the movies. 

ATLFF 50 T-Shirt via the festival; "The Brittney Griner Story" via ESPN Films and Sundance

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 why 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 Myers 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 champion Erin 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 LoenaHendrickx 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 AlpsOrganizing 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. Night cauldron photo at Cortina by Nippy Feldhake.