As the German men wrapped up their final curling practice at the Vancouver Olympic Centre on Sunday, February 14, volunteer team driver Dave Rush was approached by a Chinese journalist from CCTV. The enthusiastic TV announcer asked carefully:
“Sir, what is a lon-e?”
“I’m sorry, but do you mean a Loonie?” Dave replied
“Yes, yes, a Loon-e” the reporter answered. “Do you have a Loon-e I can see?”
Dave smiled, reached into his pocket, and handled the man one of our iconic 1 dollar coins. He was so happy to receive the short term loan that he quickly blurted out how he was doing a news piece the ice-embedded Loonie at Canada Hockey Place (a good luck omen for the Canadian Teams).
It seems that Lucky Loonies have become a part of Canadian Olympic lore: A loonie was tucked away in the hockey ice at the Salt Lake City Olympic games of 2002; the year Canada won gold in both men’s and women’s hockey (against the US both times, no less!). The humble coin may have also helped Canadian athlete Maelle Ricker win gold in Ladies Snowboard Cross this week. This golden girl even keeps a Loonie in her pocket for good luck, a gift from her mother.
Just last week, the Canadian mint released 10 million commemorative Loonies for the 2010 games, a tradition that has been in place since Salt Lake City 2002.
Once the visiting news reporter finished his story for CCTV, he handed the Loonie back to Dave.
“But don’t you want to keep it?” Rush asked.
“No, you should keep it,” the reporter responded. “This Loonie is now famous all over China!”
Where is the Lucky Loonie now? Stay tuned for further details on what happens to it.
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