Salt Lake pin trader reveals surprising pin turning heads in PyeongChang

GANGNEUNG, South Korea – It’s not an official Olympic sport, but the crowds sure make it look like it is.

Pin traders come from near and far to haggle with the world’s best during the games. In the middle of it all is Salt Lake City’s Janet Grissom.

“This is where the party is,” Grissom told me as we met at the trading room in Olympic Park. “People are really getting into it.”

She should know. She’s a pro. A certified pin trader with Coca-Cola, Grissom gets a guaranteed spots at this Olympic event.

There’s room for one person,” she said pointing to where she’s positioned at the trading table. “I think it’s more challenging for the people out there.”

Grissom has been to nine Olympics now, experiencing nine different countries and nine different cultures. One of the South Korean Olympic volunteers told us pin trading wasn’t a big deal here, but after seeing people wearing pins everywhere at Olympic park, Grissom said the local pin traders are getting into the game.

For Grissom, who brought 2,000 pins along, it’s not easy to travel with all that metal.

“I keep each bag at 48 pounds, so I don’t get excess weight baggage fees,” she said.

With all her experience, Grissom knows how to spot the “hot” pin of the games. For these Olympics, one of the most popular pins is a pin depicting North Korean leader Kim Jung Un and American President Donld Trump riding nuclear missiles towards each other.

“We would like to think that this would not happen,” she said with a slight laugh.

In fact, pin trading has a way of bringing people together, just like the Olympic games themselves. It’s about making friends and making friendly deals.

You can follow Alex Cabrero at the Olympic games on Facebook and Twitter