Article posted: 8/11/2012 8:00 AM

Olympic stamp collecting ‘the sport of the spectator’

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A stamp with the face of Britain's Laura Trott kissing her gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics is seen on an envelope ready to be sent by Herman Sanchez on Aug. 8 in London. London has been issuing stamps every day with photos of Britain's gold medalists. The stamps feature the athlete in an action photo taken as they were competing.

Associated Press

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The Royal Mail has been busy paying tribute to the country's Olympians in the last two weeks with special-issue stamps for gold medalists. The stamps feature the athlete in an action photo taken as they were competing — and with Britain in third place on the gold medal table, Royal Mail's been on overdrive printing those new stamps. "For ordinary people, this is the only chance you have to touch the spirit of the Olympics,"said Herman Sanchez, a postal worker from Los Angeles who has traveled to almost every Summer Olympics for 20 years.