Ruthie Bolton Bobble Head Doll

In 2000, Ruthie Bolton added another Olympic gold medal to her trophy collection that year, playing primarily in defensive roles as the U.S. advanced through the rounds and defeated Australia in the finals.

Bolton was born on  May 25, 1967, in Lucedale, Mississippi; one of 20 children. 
After graduating from college, Bolton played for several years for European teams.
In 1996, she joined the WNBA and signed on with the Sacramento Monarchs.  In 1997 she was named to All-WNBA first team, 1997.  Playing the position of guard for the Sacramento Monarchs, Ruthie Bolton is representative of a fairly new phenomenon in women's basketball--the veteran player.   She was named the WNBA's first Player of the Week, and went on to amass an impressive set of statistics for the season, leading the team in scoring with an average of 19.4 points per game, second in the league.

She was named to the All-League first team, and excelled as both an offensive and defensive player. Going into the 1998 season, Bolton was one of the new league's headline makers.
She averaged over 13 points per game each year and building a spirit of teamwork among her younger comrades that propelled the Monarchs to the WNBA playoffs in 2000.