Commemorative Olympic Pin: Olympic Biathlon Raccoon Mascot

Roni was the mascot for the 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York, and the first official mascot at an American Olympic event. His appearance as a raccoon was chosen due to the creature’s abundance in the Adirondack Mountain region where the games were hosted. The name Roni came from a Mohawk word for raccoon and was voted on by school children of the region. He was created by sports illustrator Donald Moss. This pin features Roni competing in the Biathlon, an event featuring cross country skiing and rifle shooting.

The collecting and sharing of Olympic Pins have been a staple of the modern games since their inception in 1896. The souvenirs are highly sought after by both athletes, who collect and trade inside the village, and spectators who buy pins from official and fan run stores. Sponsors of the games often mass produce pins for anyone to collect as memories of the games. Coca-Cola, for example, produced multiple full pin sets for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Some of the unofficial mascots were also creations of companies, such as the 1972 Sapporo games and their mascot, Takuchan, created by the Seiko watch company as a bear on skis wearing a wristwatch. Pins are a small part of the overall marketing for the modern games, which now encapsulates a large merchandising operation involving overseas mass production of Olympic memorabilia.

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Whelliston, Kyle. “Swifter Higher: Meet the Mascots: Waldi (Munich 1972).” Swifter, Higher, July 8, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20100308075540/http://swifterhigher.com/2008/07/meet-the-mascots-waldi-munich.php.