PARIS — Move over Simone Biles — Snoop Dogg may win the Olympic title for top keepsake from the Paris Games.
With pin-trading a passionate Olympics side sport, the Games kicked off with fans and athletes alike vying for Biles’ custom pin — a small yellow heart inscribed with the superstar gymnast’s name.
New Zealand rugby sevens player Tysha Ikenasio — on a quest to collect pins from every country at the Games — was among those who took to TikTok to gloat after a successful trade with Biles. “I feel I clocked the pin game,” she said.
She wasn’t alone. Tennis star Andy Murray, reportedly an obsessive collector, managed to score a Biles pin after British gymnast Becky Downie “worked some magic.”
After having dominated the pin game for days, Biles, who won gold with the U.S. in Tuesday’s gymnastics team final, got a come-from-behind challenge as Snoop Dogg’s signature entry — a likeness of the rapper blowing Olympic-style smoke rings — began gaining.
“The gold medal winner for Olympic collectables,” photographer Eric Seals posted.
Not to be outdone, members of the New Zealand rugby sevens women set their sights on the new prize.
“We have a new challenge guys,” Alena Saili posted Tuesday. “A Snoop Dog pin!!”
One happy recipient was tennis star Coco Gauff, who got a pin — and a personal message — from Snoop, who is moonlighting as a Games commentator for NBC Sports.
“Hey Coco, I got something for you, beautiful,” Snoop told Gauff in a video the U.S. Tennis Association posted Monday on Instagram.
“This is the best pin that I’ve ever gotten,” said Gauff, whose hopes for a singles medal were dashed Tuesday in a third-round loss to Donna Vekić of Croatia.
The tradition of trading pins dates to the first contemporary Olympics in Athens, Greece, in 1896, when the first cloth collectibles were handed out to athletes. Since then, collecting the tokens has captivated fans and stars, including basketball great Stephen Curry, who was spotted bartering the badges aboard the Team USA boat during the opening ceremony.
Tennis great Serena Williams started her collection in Sydney in 2000. Although she didn’t qualify to compete in singles at those Games, “I took the opportunity to trade pins,” she said, vowing never to give up her more unusual finds.
“Pin trading is the non-Olympic, Olympic sport that I didn’t know I needed,” fan Arielle Schmitt posted on TikTok. “I’m obsessed with it.”
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