"Filled Credit Card Limit with a Side Job"... 60s Grandmother Becomes Famous Personality at the Olympics [Paris Olympics]

60s American Celebrity Vivian Robinson
Visits Opening Ceremony and 38 Stadiums
Focused on Fundraising Between Olympics
Feels "Regretful" as Next Olympics Held in LA, Her Residence

"The budget was large, so saving money was not easy, but it is worth 1000 times more than that."

Vivian Robinson (66), an American Olympic 'super-fan' who has visited the Summer Olympics seven times over the past 40 years since 1984, attending every opening ceremony and touring around 30 venues each time, is gaining attention. To come to the 2024 Paris Olympics, she saved $10,000 (about 13.78 million KRW) over the past three years and is now roaming all over Paris. Wearing Olympic souvenirs she has collected over the years all over her body, she has become a well-known Olympic figure even among tourists.

Olympic enthusiast Vivian Robinson Photo by AP News

AP News recently interviewed Robinson, who appears at every Olympic site. She fell in love with the Olympics through her mother, who worked as an interpreter at the Olympics held in their hometown in 1984 and shared stories afterward, giving her athletes' badges. Since then, she has visited the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, 2000 Sydney Olympics, 2004 Athens Olympics, 2012 London Olympics, and 2016 Rio Olympics.

For Robinson, an enthusiastic Olympic fan, the most important thing to maintain her passion is securing funds to visit the Olympic host city and purchase event tickets. She also focuses on creating her own outfit for attending the Olympics.

According to reports, Robinson’s visit to Paris, France this time was not easy. Living in Los Angeles (LA), raising funds to come to Paris was the biggest challenge. She earned money by selling necklaces on the coast during the day and working as a grocery store employee at night, working two jobs. Additionally, she maxed out her credit card to buy tickets for the opening ceremony and 38 events.

She said, "Do you know how long it takes to earn that much money? But life keeps throwing work at you, life goes on, sometimes you fail, but eventually, you succeed. The budget doesn’t matter. In the end, you make the money."

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

The 2008 Beijing Olympics was hindered by budget issues. Although she obtained a visa to visit China, she could not afford the travel expenses. For the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she even purchased event tickets but experienced a full refund as the games were held without spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the hard-earned trip to Paris, there were disappointing moments. Robinson paid $1,600 for an opening ceremony ticket and sat in seats on the Seine River bridge side in Paris, but she could only watch the scenes on a large screen installed on-site. She expressed regret, saying, "I felt cheated paying $1,600 just to watch on TV."

Robinson explained that it took her a year to prepare her Paris Olympic outfit. She painted the Olympic symbol, the five rings, on white fabric clothes and a hat, and hung dozens of Eiffel Tower ornaments, a symbol of Paris. She also attached badges, various patches, and small flags collected from athletes over 40 years. AP reported that she gladly accepted tourists’ photo requests when they saw her outfit.

Robinson stated she will visit the Olympics for life. Once this Olympics ends, she will return home and focus on raising funds for the next Olympics. Since the next Olympics will be held in LA, where she lives, she does not need to earn money for plane tickets or accommodation. However, she said it is unfortunate not to be able to travel somewhere because of the Olympics.

Robinson said, "The downside is that I won’t be able to see the world while competing in LA next time," adding, "At least I can save money to pay off the credit card debt incurred from this trip."