1976 and 1977 World Junior Figure Skating Championships Pins: Repeat Performance.

Last Updated on November 29, 2023 by Netropolitan Museum

Pins from the inaugural and second World Junior Championships are lookalikes

They’re two of a kind but not quite identical. Like peas in a pod or birds of a feather. So it was a repeat performance of sorts when the 1976 and 1977 World Junior Figure Skating Championships pins ended up looking nearly alike, with only the base metal color and year of the competition altered. While the 1976 version is silver in color, the 1977 is gold. Both are sculptural and interesting in design and detail.

The city of Megève, in southeastern France, hosted the World Junior Figure Skating Championships both years. It’s unusual for a major international event to be staged in the same place in consecutive years, so the doubling up on the design was simply a matter of economics in this case. The 1976 and 1977 events were conducted as trials for a possible permanent world junior competition and were technically called “ISU Junior Figure Skating Championships.” Once the World Junior Figure Skating Championships were formalized in 1978, the 1976 and 1977 events were subsequently also referred to as the World Junior Championships. The 1976 pin holds the distinction of commemorating the first World Junior Championships ever to be held.

Pins Gallery: 1976 and 1977 World Junior Figure Skating Championships

Each pin is marked simply with “Megève” along the top and the year along the bottom. Intersecting globes sit in the background, with a superimposed skate blade and a stylized letter “J” (presumably for “Junior”) in the upper portion of the pin. An unusual shape, superimposed on the lower globe, is likely the then-current logo of the Rhône-Alpes region of France where Megève is located (today in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region). The 1976 and 1977 World Junior Figure Skating Championships pins are fine reminders of the start of an event that continues today and that has seen many young skaters go from junior world champion to world champion.

The World Junior Figure Skating Championships would be held in Megève twice more, in 1978 and 1980. The 1978 competition was commemorated with a silver-colored pin of a design that differs from its 1976 and 1977 predecessors, while the 1980 event was not commemorated with a pin. You can see the 1978 World Junior Championships pin in this blog.

Enjoy this week’s figure skating pins blog: 1976 and 1977 World Junior Figure Skating Championships Pins: Repeat Performance.

This blog was originally published at The Netropolitan Museum of Figure Skating Pins on June 6, 2020. It has been updated with new and revised information.

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