Current:Home > StocksMeet the Olympics superfan who spent her savings to get to her 7th Games -Prime Capital Blueprint
Meet the Olympics superfan who spent her savings to get to her 7th Games
Rekubit Exchange View
Date:2025-04-06 17:39:48
PARIS (AP) — 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 ask, 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.
Paris Olympics
- The men’s Olympic triathlon has been postponed over Seine water quality concerns. Read more here.
- Take a look at everything else to watch on Day 4.
- See AP’s top photos from the 2024 Paris Olympics here.
- See the Olympic schedule of events and follow all of AP’s coverage of the Summer Games.
- Here is a link to the Olympic medal tracker.
- Want more? Sign up for our daily Postcards from Paris newsletter.
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 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 one, from working on outfits to saving up for tickets, no matter what it costs.
“Oh, I’m going to do it forever. I’m going to save all my money and just concentrate on Olympics,” she said.
Vivianne Robinson shows the flag pole she carries with all the countries who have hosted an Olympics (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
___
For more coverage of the Paris Olympics, visit https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games.
veryGood! (39183)
Related
- The FBI should have done more to collect intelligence before the Capitol riot, watchdog finds
- This Week in Clean Economy: ARPA-E’s Clean Energy Bets a Hard Sell with Congress, Investors
- Jessica Alba Shares Sweet Selfie With Husband Cash Warren on Their 15th Anniversary
- Attacks on Brazil's schools — often by former students — spur a search for solutions
- Global Warming Set the Stage for Los Angeles Fires
- EPA’s ‘Secret Science’ Rule Meets with an Outpouring of Protest on Last Day for Public Comment
- Ticks! Ick! The latest science on the red meat allergy caused by some tick bites
- 20 Fascinating Facts About Reba McEntire
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- This Week in Clean Economy: Wind Power Tax Credit Extension Splits GOP
Ranking
- DoorDash steps up driver ID checks after traffic safety complaints
- How to Get Rid of a Pimple Fast: 10 Holy Grail Solutions That Work in Hours
- Oil and Gas Drilling on Federal Land Headed for Faster Approvals, Zinke Says
- Biden administration says fentanyl-xylazine cocktail is a deadly national threat
- Trump's 'stop
- How A New Majority On Wisconsin's Supreme Court Could Impact Reproductive Health
- Alaska Chokes on Wildfires as Heat Waves Dry Out the Arctic
- What's next for the abortion pill mifepristone?
Recommendation
Tom Holland's New Venture Revealed
This Week in Clean Economy: Manufacturing Job Surge Seen for East Coast Offshore Wind
Trump Weakens Endangered Species Protections, Making It Harder to Consider Effects of Climate Change
IPCC Report Shows Food System Overhaul Needed to Save the Climate
McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
One month after attack in congressman's office, House panel to consider more security spending
Share your story: Have you used medication for abortion or miscarriage care?
Coastal Communities Sue 37 Oil, Gas and Coal Companies Over Climate Change