Pinned at the Olympics
Sam Daly, a junior in mechanical engineering, spent last summer collecting more than 60 nations’ pins at the Olympic Games while interning at a venture capital firm in London. His job, which he got through a Cornell alumnus, enabled him to work flexible hours so he could attend Olympic events.
Trading pins is a common practice at the Olympics, with most athletes and visitors participating, from countries as varied as Ethiopia, Belgium and Australia. Last fall, when Daly decided that he was going to spend the summer in London, he requested pins from Cornell. The school provided him with 300 pins, all of which he gave out or traded at the Games.
Daly’s favorite pin was given to him by the Swedish national field hockey coach. The best part of the Games, he says, was not the sporting events but the sense of international camaraderie.
- Sarah Byrne ’15