Truth be told, the Thunderbolts still had a banner year in the 2016 Marble League. Their first medal came during the second event when the team earned a bronze medal during the Relay Run. In the next event, the Thunderbolts earned their first gold medal in the Collision event and rose to first place overall. Another silver came after Bolta reached 97.6 cm in the fifth event, Long Jump, and two more Bronze medals followed during Team Pursuit and Hurdles. Prior to the Savage Speeders’ win in the Hurdles event, the Thunderbolts had been in between first and second place since the fifth event. At the end of the 2016 Marble League, the Thunderbolts fell to third overall, tied with Mellow Yellow in points, but just behind them in medals.

The team stayed silent during its extended offseason, training for the 2017 Marble League. In fact, the Thunderbolts stayed silent in general because the team members were all mute. The four met at a Greek mythology convention in 2012 where they all dressed up as Zeus. When they tried to communicate with each other, each realized that they couldn’t speak, and upon communicating to each other through roll language, they found several things in common, along with their affinity for racing. No sooner had the four left the convention that they had already decided on their team name: the Thunderbolts.

The team joined the Knikkegen Marble League later that year and rose through the ranks. The team became known as one of the fastest teams in the league, and, by the time the 2016 Marble League was announced, was one of the top teams alongside Team Primary and was invited to the tournament. The Thunderbolts did not want to be known as “the team that couldn’t talk,” but as “the team that always shocked the competition.” And rightly so: the Thunderbolts’ achievements in competition prove that any marble can overcome adversity and shine on the podium. Regardless, this did not mean that the team members had easy lives. It was only after three years of competition that the Thunderbolts allowed interviews with the press, where the now-former team members disclosed this information with us. We hold the utmost respect with them for sharing.