雷霆

雷霆
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Current

The **Thunderbolts** are a blue and yellow team introduced in Marble League 2016. Thunderbolts pre-qualified for Marble League 2017 after ending in third in Marble League 2016. They qualified for Marble League 2018 by finishing in 3rd in their group.

The original four members of the team originated from Thorston and competed in Knikkegen Marble League before attending Marble League 2016.

After Marble League 2018 however, the original team dissolved out of a lack of passion for the sport, and the Thunderbolts were reconstructed with former trainers from Thorston. Since then, the Thunderbolts have been disappointing as they finished 13th in next two Marble Leagues. They showed promise in Marble League Winter Special and Marbula One Season 2 as they finished top half in both tournaments. Later, they managed to qualify for Marble League 2021 by placing first in their group.

## Team Members

### Athletes

 File:Thunderbolts2.png
 File:DSC01545.JPG
Bolta, Bolto, Boltu and Bolty were the original members of the Thunderbolts. Boltew was introduced in 2018. In 2019, the entire Thunderbolts roster was replaced by five new members: Thunder, Lightning, Bolt, Shock and Zap. Thunder became team captain in 2019.

### Coaches

Note: Events include any kind of events (friendlies, other tournaments, ...).

## History

### Pre-Marble League

The Thunderbolts come from the city of Thorston, maybe in the north of Europe. Arguably the most mysterious of all Marble League teams, their striking name notwithstanding, the Thunderbolts aren't exactly the center of attention in the Marble League, nor do they ever wish to be. In fact, they have barely said anything, even during the offseason. This is especially true of the team's four original members, who are indeed all mute.

These four, Bolta, Bolto, Boltu, and Bolty, first met at a Greek mythology convention in 2012, all dressed up as Zeus. When they tried to communicate, they realized that none of them could speak at all. And so they started to speak to each other in roll language. During their discussion, the four found out that they had several things in common, including an affinity for racing. Once they left the convention, the four decided to form a marble sports team, and they *already* had a name for the team in their own minds: the Thunderbolts.

The Thunderbolts joined the Knikkegen Marble League later that year and rose through the ranks. The team became known as one of the fastest teams and, by 2016, had emerged as one of the top teams in the KML. This led to them being invited to take part in Marble League 2016. The team accepted the invitation, wishing to have the public know them not as the team that couldn't talk, but rather as the team that always shocked the competition.

### 2016

 File:ThunderboltsJawbreakersCollision2016.jpg
The Thunderbolts started off unconvincingly in Marble League 2016, coming in 11th in the first event, Balancing. It was not before Event 2, Relay Race, where they finally won their first ever Marble League medal, a bronze. This was immediately followed by a gold in Event 3, Collision, putting the team into first place overall. A 6th-place-finish in Sand Rally dropped the team to 4th, but Bolta was able to earn the team a silver medal in Event 5, Long Jump, enough for the team to retake the lead in the standings.

 File:ML16E12.png
The Thunderbolts proceeded to keep up with their brilliant performance, as they kept scoring points in every events and won another bronze medal in Event 9, Team Pursuit, which made them take the lead once again. They remained there for the next two events until Bolto won the team another bronze medal in Event 12, Hurdles, narrowly missing out on a silver by 0.02 seconds. The team had been in the top two since Event 5, but their final bronze was not enough for them to keep their lead. They fell to third overall at the end of Marble League 2016, tied with Mellow Yellow on points, but behind them in medals. Such an achievement by the Thunderbolts showed that any marble can overcome adversity to shine on the podium.

### 2017

 File:BoltyLongJump2017.jpg
The Thunderbolts remained silent during their training for Marble League 2017, for which they had already qualified thanks to their third place finish in the previous season. The team started off with an eighth place finish in the first event, Funnel Race, followed by a bronze medal for Bolty in the next event, Long Jump. The team rose to fifth overall as a result, and they had since become more motivated to do their best.However, their surprisingly poor performance in Event 3, Fidget Spinner Collision, seemed to have foreshadowed the downfall of the Thunderbolts. Indeed, the team continued to struggle as they finished within the bottom half in the next seven events, except Event 6, Relay Run, where they managed to finish in 7th after being eliminated in the semi-finals.

 File:ThunderboltsSteeplechase2017.jpg
By the end of Event 9, Steeplechase, they had dropped to 14th overall and were no longer eligible for the Marble League title.The Thunderbolts decided to make amendments following their failing streak. It worked, and the team won a bronze medal in Event 10, Archery, and Bolta won another in Event 12, Sand Rally. Unfortunately, they couldn't jump up the standings any further, finishing in 12th overall. It was a far cry from their incredible top three finish last year, but the team were still grateful to have taken part.

### 2018

 File:ThunderboltsShiningSwarmHalfpipeQualifiers2018.jpg
After another silent offseason, the Thunderbolts returned for the Marble League 2018 Qualifiers, where they would compete in Group C. Following in the steps from the previous season, the team were eliminated in the first round of the first event, Curling. However, they managed to make up for it by finishing the next three events within the top half, including a third place finish for Bolta in the Snow Race event and a first place finish in the Halfpipe event, the latter of which put them into third place in the group, enough to qualify for Marble League 2018.

 File:CrazyCat'sEyesThunderboltsTeamPursuit2018.jpg
The Thunderbolts had a poor start to the competition, with Boltu coming in 15th in Event 1, 5 Meter Ice Dash. But a fifth place finish for Bolto in Ski Jump and a fourth place finish in Halfpipe reignited their hope. They won their first gold medal of the games in the next event, Bobsled, moving to second overall. The team went on to stay in the top half of the standings for most of the rest of the season, partly due to a bronze medal in Event 8, Snowboard Cross, and another in Event 10, Biathlon. However, they faltered in the final two events, and they fell to 9th at the end of Marble League 2018.

During the offseason, the Thunderbolts continued to falter in the events they took part in. Bolto failed to finish in the 100 Meter Water Race, and the team failed to get through the heats in the Amazing Maze Marble Race. It became clear that the original four members, as well as their reserve, Boltew, had had enough. Their hearts were not in the Marble League anymore, and they wanted to live life again, and so retired.

### 2019

With these retirements, it looked like the Thunderbolts would retire from the Marble League as a result. The team's coach and manager, Thunderstorm, had another thought. They recruited five of their trainers from Thorston - Thunder, Lightning, Bolt, Shock, and Zap, to become the new members of the Thunderbolts. Bolt is Bolty's cousin, while Lightning had previously competed individually in the Knikkegen Marble League.

 File:LightningFunnelRace2019Qualifiers.jpg
The new Thunderbolts competed in the Marble League 2019 Qualifiers. The new members stunned the competition by coming in 9th and qualifying for Marble League 2019. The new team had a good start to the competition with a 6th place finish for Lightning in Underwater Race, followed by a 5th place finish for Shock in Funnel Race. The team broke the Marble League Record in Event 3, Balancing, before being beaten by the Hazers, earning their first medal as a new team, a silver, moving to joint third overall.

 File:ML19E6Final.jpg
Unfortunately, the Thunderbolts could not keep their momentum and failed to come higher than seventh place in the rest of the competition, apart for a 4th place finish in Event 6, Relay Run, and a 6th place finish for Thunder in Event 14, Surfing. This included two back-to-back last place finishes in Event 11, Dirt Race, and Event 12, Rafting. By the end of Event 13, Elimination Race, the team were no longer eligible for the Marble League title. They still could not turn things around and eventually finished in 13th place overall. They didn't get a medal for 13 consecutive events.

### 2020

 File:TBO2019-1.png
The Thunderbolts put in a bid to host Marble League 2020, but to add insult to injury, they lost to Team Galactic. The team were left dejected as they returned to Thorston. They had to forgo training for the Marble League 2020 Qualifiers for a few months, so as to recover mentally, after which they received an invitation to take part in Marbula One Season 1. The team were so relieved upon hearing this that they happily accepted it, and they chose Shock and Bolt to represent them. The Thunderbolts started training again as they wished to put their disastrous 2019 season behind them and keep an eye on Marbula One and all other future events. They also got to host the sixth Grand Prix at their track, the Short Circuit.

#### Marbula One Season 1

 File:BoltOranginM1S1Greenstone.jpg
The team started poorly as they only managed to score points in one of the Grands Prix in the first half of the season, placing 13th out of 16 teams. However, the second half of the tournament turned out to be much better as Bolt managed to qualify 3rd in the qualifiers of Greenstone Grand Prix. Bolt managed to grab the lead from Orangin from O'rangers but lost it on the penultimate lap, and was never able to catch up and thus come second. On their team's home circuit, Shock qualified in 8th, but managed to climb up to 2nd, taking the Thunderbolts to 6th in overall standings. Their poor performance at the last two races led them to finish the season in 8th.

#### Marble League 2020

 File:ThunderboltsBalancingQualifiers2020.jpg
In the Marble League 2020 Qualifiers, the Thunderbolts started off well in Balancing by getting a score of 351, which was good enough for 5th. Shock managed to get 3rd in their heat of Funnel Spinning. This performance was able to get 8th in this event, and it kept them at fifth place with 27 points. A 6th-place-finish in Block Pushing elevated them to 2nd, with only the Savage Speeders in front of them. In the final event, the Thunderbolts won their heat, finishing in 7th in the 5 Meter Sprint. This win gave them 4th place at the end of the Qualifiers, enough for them to qualify for Marble League 2020. The team had high hopes going in to the main tournament.

 File:BlackHoleFunnel2020Thunderbolts.jpg
Unfortunately for the team, the team again started off with a slow start and was never able to recover since that. They kept sitting in the bottom six of the standings. Things became worse as they were sitting in 15th place after Team Aquathlon, only 12 points ahead of Mellow Yellow, and they're not able to finish the season in top 3. The team had failed to get a single medal for 27 consecutive events, if they don't get a medal in Collision then they would have the longest streak of non-podium finishes.

 File:ThunderboltsHazersCollision2020.jpg
The team was placed in Group A alongside Team Galactic, O'rangers and Green Ducks. The team surprisingly won against Team Galactic and O'rangers and thus moved on to the knock-out stage. The team was able to won every match until the final where they lost to Savage Speeders by one point, getting a silver. The silver was much needed for the team and the team jumped up to 11th in the standings with just one event to go. Shock placed 3rd in the placement race of Marble Marathon, but only finished 15th. This dropped the team to 13th again. The team had failed to get a top half season finish since Marble League 2017.

During the offseason, the Thunderbolts are again invited to participate in Marbula One Season 2, and this time they sent out Shock and Bolt again.

#### Marbula One Season 2

The team again got off to a slow start as they only managed to get 11 points in the first three Grands Prix, placing 11th out of 20 teams. Bolt managed to turn the tables around in Aquamaring Grand Prix as they placed 4th in the qualifiers. Bolt was able to rise and took the lead on lap 6 but failed to hold the lead after bumping against the safety lane on lap 11 of the race, and was never able to recover from that mistake. Bolt's 2nd place finish elevated the team to 5th place. Bolt participated in the next Grand Prix, Tumult Turnpike Grand Prix. Bolt's performance wasn't affected by the fact that they participated in two Grands Prix back to back, instead, Bolt was able to get pole in the qualifiers. Bolt was overtaken by Yellow Eye from Crazy Cat's Eyes but was able to take the lead back. Limelime from Limers was able to take the lead from Bolt for just two laps before Bolt took it back. Hazy from Hazers grabbed the lead on the penultimate lap and Bolt finished 2nd once again. The team finished the first half of the season in 4th place, much better than the last season.

### 2021

#### Marble League Winter Special

 File:HazyBillySpeedSkatingMLWS.jpg
During the offseason, the team was invited to participate in Marble League Winter Special. Shock surprisingly plaed last in Ice Dash. Bolt's silver in Snowboard Cross was able to elevate the team up to 6th place. Thunder surprised everyone by breaking the Marble League Record in Speed Skating, clinching the first gold medal since the team changed their new roster, and the team rose to 2nd in the standings. The team lost to Snowballs in Ice Hockey and fell to 5th in the standings. This has been their best score in any tournaments since Marble League 2016.

#### Marbula One Season 2

The team continued their strong showings and started off with a bronze in Raceforest Grand Prix, jumping to 2nd in the standings. The team suddenly faltered as they failed to qualify for three out of five Grands Prix, scoring just 12 points. The 12 points was far from enough to end the season in top 3 and they finished 6th. Bolt placed 5th in the individual standings, which was a lot better than they did last season.

The team had high hopes going into the off-season where they participated in Marble League 2021 Practice Race. To everyone's shock, Bolt finished last out of 28 teams.

#### Marble League 2021

 File:MYTBWaveQualifiers2021.jpg
Only June 10th, the draw for the Marble League 2021 Qualifiers are revealed and Thunderbolts are placed in Group A, the group consisted of 7 teams from Marble League 2020 and are nicknamed "The Group Of Death". Many fans started worrying about the team because their poor off-season performance. The Thunderbolts surprised everyone by getting four straight top half finishes in the qualifiers, including Thunder's win in Sand Rally, and qualified in 1st place with 39 points, the highest points out of any teams.

## 2016 弹珠联赛

主条目：2016弹珠联赛
 File:Thunder.jpg

## Marble League 2018

主条目：Marble League 2018
 File:P120 orig.png

## Other 2018 Competitions

The Thunderbolts took part in two other competitions in 2018: the 100 Meter Water Race and the Amazing Maze Marble Race.

 Amazing Maze Marble Race | All

## Marble League 2019

主条目：Marble League 2019
 File:Thunderbolts Logo.png
 File:Thunderbolts Pim Logo.jpg

### Qualifiers

The Thunderbolts qualified for Marble League 2020.

## Marbula One Season 2

主条目：Marbula One Season 2

\*Bolt set the fastest lap, earning them 1 extra point.
\*\*Bolt qualified in pole position, earning them 1 extra point.

## 2020/21 Offseason

### Qualifiers

The Thunderbolts competed in Group A. They qualified for Marble League 2021.

## Team Members' Individual Scores

### Marbula One

 Shock | Marbula One S1Marbula One S2 | Savage Speedway GP (S1)Momotorway GP (S1)Short Circuit GP (S1)Razzway GP (S1)Minty Mania GP (S2)Honeydome GP (S2)Arctic Circuit GP (S2)Momotrway GP (S2)Misty Mountain GP (S2)Savage Speedway GP (S2)

## Gallery

ThunderboltsTP.jpgTeam Profile 2020ThunderboltsTP21.pngTeam Profile 2021TBM1.jpegMarbula One (S1) PosterThunder.pngThunder, Thunderbolts' captain.Thunderstorm.pngThunderstorm, the coach of the Thunderbolts.JUSTADDHIGHERRESOLUTIONIMAGE.pngThe Short Circuit, home of the Thunderbolts.
## Trivia

* The Thunderbolts currently have the most bronze medals of all Marble League teams (8).
* The Thunderbolts were the first team to replace all of their original members.
* The Thunderbolts are one of four teams that have been able to qualify for every single Marble League so far, the other three being Mellow Yellow, Savage Speeders, and O'rangers. They are the only one of said teams that have not won a Marble League.
* The Thunderbolts hold the record for most consecutive events without winning a gold medal.

## References

1. ↑ Skystrykr (15th March 2019). 2019 MarbleLympics - Team Members. Reddit.
2. ↑ Stynth (20th March 2020). RetRollSpective – Thunderbolts. Marble Sports.