The 30 Minute Rule begins January 16 at 7:00 PM EST. An Initial Bid Must Be Placed By January 16 at 6:00 PM EST To Participate After 6:00 PM EST
Incredibly rare example of the first National Olympic Committee pin in the history of the Olympic Games—a handmade cloth-covered pin distributed to elite Greek athletes shortly before the opening ceremony of the Athens 1896 Olympics. The pin measures 23mm in diameter and features the national emblem of Greece: a central white cross on a light blue background. In fine condition.
The history of the pin is documented in an article by Ioannis Thomakos, "The Athens 1896 and Athens 1906 Olympic Pins," published by the International Society of Olympic Historians, explains that 'following the initiative and proposal of professor Spyridon Lambros, Secretary of the Commission for the Olympic Preparation of Greek Athletes and co-author of the Athens 1896 Official Report, shortly before the Athens 1896 Olympiad, the Greek Organising Committee (EOA - Epitropi Olympiakon Agonon) created a limited number of pins depicting the Greek national emblem (blue with white cross). These pins were made by hand from cloth and they were given a few days before the Opening Ceremony to a select number of Greek athletes who finished first in the Athens 1896 Preliminary Trials.' Greek athlete Charilaos Vasilakos, the first man to win a marathon race (and runner-up at the 1896 Olympics), was photographed wearing such a pin at a farewell lunch reception held to honor the departing foreign Olympic participants on April 16, 1896.
