The lucky loonie has made a golden comeback in Toronto during the Pan Am Games.
There’s one buried under the velodrome in Milton, where Canada has picked up 10 medals, including six golds so far in the games.
One was placed under the sand of the volleyball courts at the Chevrolet Centre by the Canadian company that created them, Hutcheson Sand and Mixes.
And Stubby Clapp, the hitting coach for the Canadian baseball team at the Pan Am Games buried a loonie in the infield dirt at the Pan Am ballpark in Ajax.
“We buried it back there for good luck and it came true, it worked,” Clapp told The Toronto Star. The Canadian team won gold against the United States on Sunday.
The lucky loonie was made famous in Canada during the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City when the Edmonton crew outsourced to construct the ice placed a single dollar underneath the face-off dot. Both Canada’s men’s and women’s hockey teams won the Gold Medal.
The loonie was dug out of the ice after the men won, the day after the women won.
It’s now sitting in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
Since 2002, Canadian athletes have tried to take advantage of the superstition.
An official “lucky loonie” was given to every Canadian athlete at the 2004 and 2012 Olympics, two were buried under the curling rink at the 2006 Olympics where Canada won gold, and loonies were buried at various venues before the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, according to the Royal Canadian Mint.
Though it doesn’t always bring good luck; a loonie was buried under the ice at the 2008 IIHF World Championships, during which Canada lost to Russia 5-4.
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