1980 US Figure Skating Championships Pin: Fire On Ice.

Last Updated on September 20, 2024 by Netropolitan Museum

Event was the first US Championships held in the Southern U.S.

Don’t call Atlanta, Georgia, by its much-despised nickname of “Hotlanta.” The locals hate it. So with apologies to everyone in Atlanta, the city was nothing short of hot when the 1980 US Figure Skating Championships were in town, commemorated with a fiery and colorful lapel pin. Things weren’t as fiery during the competition, however. Many of the top contenders stumbled their way to a Team USA berth for the 1980 Olympic Winter Games to be held in Lake Placid, New York, just about a month later. In fact, the article in Sports Illustrated that recapped the week-long event was appropriately titled “Stumbling to Lake Placid.”

Pin Gallery: 1980 US Figure Skating Championships

Historically, collectors have disagreed whether the pin produced for the 1980 US Championships is a hit or miss. Some have great disdain for the pin while others count it among their favorites. The Curator of The Netropolitan Museum of Figure Skating Pin is firmly on the hit side. Although the design and production value of the pin leave something to be desired, it is unlike any US Championships pin that came before. It is modern, colorful, and memorable—and that’s what a commemorative pin should be.

At the center of the pin, on a teal background with red flames rising perilously close beneath, a stylized illustration of a skater executes a Russian split jump. The flames suggest the warm weather of the Southern location. It’s fire on ice, and no figure skating pin issued for a major championship before Atlanta had ever featured flames.

On a shiny gold base metal, the pin carries the event name, location, and year around the circumference: “United States Figure Skating Championships Atlanta 1980.” The pin looks and feels like 1980, the beginning of the “Decade of Excess.”

Enjoy this week’s figure skating pins blog: 1980 US Figure Skating Championships Pin: Fire On Ice.

This blog was originally published at The Netropolitan Museum of Figure Skating Pins on July 18, 2020, and has been updated with new and expanded information.

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