The Aussie’s impressive collection also included pins from North Korea, the Seychelles, and U.S. tennis and fencing.
It’s a known fact that pin collecting amongst athletes competing at the Olympics is a sport in itself, and amongst tennis players, it’s safe to say that Daria Saville was a worthy challenger for the gold medal.
The Aussie, competing in her second Olympics, lost in the first round of women’s doubles alongside Ellen Perez, but she was a big winner in Paris off the court. From behind-the-scenes tours of the Olympic village and athletes’ accommodations, to answering questions about meals, logistics, and laundry, Saville kept tennis fans fed with engaging content on Instagram and TikTok.
But on Monday, she debuted her most anticipated video of all, showing off the impressive haul of enamel pins, traditionally distributed by each National Olympic Committee competing at the Games, plus sponsors, media, public figures and more, as a collector’s item, that she took home from various countries.
Her final tally included nearly four dozen pins from far-flung places, with small delegations, like Algeria, North Korea, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates, and multiple pieces from Canada, China and the United States.
Baseline’s top picks from her haul include:
Botswana: A muscular, cartoon zebra dressed a track singlet uniform, all clad in Botswana’s national color blue
Brazil: A smiling big cat holding a Brazilian flag
Chinese Taipei: A cutesy bubble tea and Eiffel towel, with hearts colored in the French flag
China: A smiling panda dressed in traditional Chinese clothes and holding a scroll and a lantern
Colombia: A golden coffee cup with the Colombian flag etched on the “steam”
Hong Kong: A white lion with a geometric orange mane
Mexico: The Eiffel Towel, topped with a colorful sombrero and a mustache
Puerto Rico: A barrio, with the Puerto Rican flag and the island’s national flower, a relative of the hibiscus, displayed prominently
Tanzania: A giraffe
Seychelles: Giant gold turtle
Saville’s favorites included Botswana and Colombia, while the Philippines, she said, had some of the nicest people. But Italy and Switzerland, the Aussie thought, missed an opportunity to feature pizza and chocolate in their designs.
Who are we to argue with an expert?
