A week had gone by since Team USA wheelchair basketball player John Boie won his second-career gold medal at the Paris 2024 Paralympics. Sitting at his Roseman building desk, working as an academic advisor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, he received an odd email from a former graduate assistant.
The subject line read: John Boie Bobblehead!
“I thought it was a scam or something on my email,” Boie said.
After digging in and reaching out to the former university employee, realization set in that this was no joke. This was a legitimate offer from the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum.
“I didn’t realize the scale that it was going to be on,” Boie said. “The graduate assistant was like, ‘no, this is for real,’ and I thought ‘wow, that would be amazing.’ I’m blessed.”
The organization officially unveiled their limited-edition bobblehead of Boie Oct. 4. Boie’s bobblehead is one of 10 released by the organization that honors athletes who recently won medals at the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“We are excited to release this bobblehead of wheelchair basketball player and two-time Paralympic gold medalist John Boie,” National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum co-founder and CEO Phil Sklar said. “We congratulate John and wish him continued success.”
The honor is yet another meaningful event for Boie since he won gold Sept. 7, alongside meeting President Joe Biden at the White House and being honored at Lambeau Field during the Green Bay Packers’ week six matchup.
“All of this cool news is just coming one after another,” Boie said. “And there’s a lot of things still coming up. I’m still riding the wave.”
Opened in 2019, the bobblehead museum in Milwaukee houses over 10,000 bobbleheads from varying countries and sizes. Many high-profile individuals in many different aspects of pop culture have had bobbleheads produced by the organization and housed in the museum, including legendary athletes like LeBron James and Pete Rose, presidents like Biden, Donald Trump and more.
“That’s part of the surreal feeling that I’m still processing through every day,” Boie said. “It means a lot to me. I think once I actually get my hands on the bobblehead, I’ll be in a different stratosphere.”
Along with fellow wheelchair basketball athlete Christie Raleigh, popular women’s gymnast Jordan Chiles and others, each bobblehead of this series is individually numbered to 2,024 and varies from 6-8 inches tall.
“Seeing that they would include Paralympic counterparts to our able-bodied sports friends; it’s very awesome to see the inclusion of different adapted sports,” Boie said.
While reading his name on a bobblehead or a trading card is really neat, Boie emphasizes that it means more than just the individual pleasure: the supporters throughout the journey mean just as much.
“I am grateful for all of [campus’] support,” Boie said. “To see all the different levels, from students all the way up to the chancellor, and every staff in between, supporting us, really means a lot to me and my alumni teammates.”
Boie’s bobblehead is available for purchase at the National Hall of Fame and Museum.
