Covered with pins and adornments, Vivianne Robinson is hard to miss in the streets of Paris.
The Olympics superfan has attended seven Summer Games over the span of 40 years. But this trip to Paris came at a hefty price — $10,000 to be precise.
Robinson, 66 and from Los Angeles, maxed out her credit cards and worked two jobs to afford the trip and the 38 event tickets she purchased. She worked on Venice Beach during the day, putting names on rice necklaces, and bagged groceries at night. She said she has to work two more years to make up for the money she spent following her passion for the Summer Olympics to Paris.
“It was hard to save up and it’s a big budget, but it’s a thousand times worth it,” she says.
Even still, she was disappointed to pay $1,600 for the opening ceremony only to end up watching a screen on a bridge. “You know how long that takes to make that much money?” she asks, eventually adding: “But things happen in life and life goes on and you win if you lose a few.”
During her interview, a passerby suggests Robinson use her fame to open an account and ask people to help fund her passion.
“That doesn’t matter. I can make the money eventually,” she responds.
Robinson’s fascination with the Olympics started when her mother worked as a translator for athletes at the University of California, Los Angeles, during the 1984 Olympics in the city. Her mother would come home after work with pins from athletes that she passed to her daughter.
Her newfound hobby of collecting pins led her to Atlanta 1996, where she made rice necklaces for athletes in exchange for their pins.
“I got all the pins and I got to meet all the athletes. And in those days, it wasn’t high security like now,” she recalls. “Now you can’t even get near the athletes’ village.”
From there: Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, London 2012 and Rio 2016. She secured a visa for Beijing 2008, but couldn’t ultimately afford the trip. Tokyo was similarly doomed: She bought tickets, but got refunded as COVID-19 soared and the Games were held without spectators.
Robinson’s outfits started simply but have become more complex over time. She spent a year working on her Paris outfit, decorating it with hundreds of adornments. Tens of Eiffel Tower ornaments hang from her hat, just above her Olympic ring earrings. Affixed to her clothes are patches, pins and little flags.
Her outfit attracts attention. Not a minute goes by before someone stops Robinson to take a photo with or of her. She does it with a smile on her face but admits that it can get too much.
“It is a little bit overwhelming. I can’t really get anywhere because everybody stops me for pictures. It takes a long time to get to the venues, but it’s OK,” she says.
And she says she feels a little like the celebrities she’s so excited to have seen — like Tom Cruise, Lady Gaga and Snoop Dogg at gymnastics.
As soon as these Olympics end, she will start working on the next Summer Games, from working on outfits to saving up for tickets, no matter what it costs — though it is on her home turf, in Los Angeles.
“Oh, I’m going to do it forever. I’m going to save all my money and just concentrate on Olympics,” she said.
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