Oscar Mayer sponsor pin created for the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympic Games. Olympic pin collecting began as early as 1900 and gained momentum at the 1936 Games. Through the 1960s pin trading was on the upswing but really took off at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games with sponsor's becoming more prevalent. Coca-Cola set up a pin trading area at the Calgary Games which gave a boost to the hobby which is still a big part of the Olympic experience.
The 1992 Summer Olympics, also known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad were held in Barcelona, Spain with 169 countries, 6,652 men and 2,704 women athletes participating. No countries boycotted these Games, a first since the 1972 Summer games in Munich. These Games saw the debut of the gold medal winning ‘Dream Team’ in American basketball featuring NBA stars Michel Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, and others. American Evelyn Ashford became one of only four women athletes to win four gold medals after winning the gold in the 4x100-metre relay. Jennifer Capriati won gold in the women’s singles tennis match at 16. The Unified team, consisting of 12 of the former Soviet republics, won the medal count at 112 beating the US by four medals.
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