BEIJING (NEXSTAR) — The feeling of standing atop a podium and having a gold medal placed around their neck is a feeling of accomplishment that every Olympic athlete hopes for heading into the Games, but can anything top that sensation? How about being turned into a bobblehead?
Four years ago the US men’s curling team made history by winning its first-ever gold medal at the Olympics, and days later they made history once again.
“In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, there’s the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame,” explains Matt Hamilton, gold medalist for the 2018 men’s curling team. “And they reached out and they said, ‘Hey, we want to make a bobblehead of you.'”
The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum in Wisconsin reached out while Hamilton was still on the ground in Pyeongchang. The landmark displays approximately 7,000 unique bobbleheads, not one a curler. That changed in 2018.
“There you see Matt in his curling gear and everything there,” describes Phil Sklar, a representative with the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum. “Yeah, we were pretty excited to connect with him right away and get the bobblehead done.”
“It’s not much of a bobblehead because I’ve got a pretty big head, anyway,” quips Hamilton. “It’s more actual size.”
Hamilton says his likeness, now immortalized in bobblehead form, is certainly on brand.
“It’s absolutely right up my alley for exposure is to kind of be the goofball of the team,” says Hamilton.
The limited-edition bobblehead was restricted to only 2,018 figures in honor of the year the team won the gold. Hamilton won’t be the last olympian to be forged in spring-loaded cranium form. Representatives from the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum reach out to several Olympians to gauge interest in being immortalized as a bobblehead in Milwaukee.
“We watch the Olympics closely not just as fans, but also for bobblehead ideas,” explains Sklar.
