During last summer’s Paris Olympic Games, Palestine’s flagbearer Valerie Tarazi couldn’t walk through the Athletes’ Village without being hassled, “to the point where it was actually an issue,” the swimmer recalls.
The reason was unusual. Every nation at the Games had its own unique pin badge and, for athletes living in the Olympic Village, collecting all 200-odd was one way to pass the time. It became a popular game, and it turned athletes of the smallest nations into minor celebrities, with a limited number of rare pins to give away.
