From Brookfield to the Podium: Emily Oberst and Team USA Are World Champions Again

Sixteen years. That's how long it had been since the U.S. women's wheelchair basketball team last stood on top of the world championship podium. On September 19, 2026, in Ottawa, they ended that drought in the best way possible — a 77-76 win over host Canada, decided by a free throw with 20.8 seconds left on the clock. And on that championship roster was a player who grew up less than three hours from where I'm writing this: Brookfield, Wisconsin's own Emily Oberst.

I've represented Emily for a while now, and if you've read this blog before, you know I don't hand out superlatives lightly. But this one deserves it: Emily Oberst is one of the most resilient competitors I've ever worked with, and Wisconsin should be proud to call her one of its own.

A Wisconsin story, start to finish

Emily was born in Brookfield, Wisconsin, and before anyone knew her as a wheelchair basketball star, she was just a kid playing everything — basketball, softball, golf, track. She was a natural athlete long before adversity ever entered the picture.

At age 12, that changed. Emily was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma in her left leg. She underwent surgery to replace her fibula with her own tibia, followed by nearly two years of chemotherapy and rehabilitation. She beat the cancer and regained the ability to walk — but the surgery meant running, and the sports she grew up loving, were no longer an option the way they used to be.

So she adapted. Emily picked up wheelchair basketball in high school, suiting up for the Junior Bucks, and never looked back. She went on to play college ball at Alabama before transferring to the University of Illinois, and from there built a career that's now included a Paralympic silver medal, multiple World Championship medals, and — as of last month — a World Championship gold.

This is what I mean when I tell people Wisconsin builds tough, driven people. Emily is proof.

World champions, and a title 16 years in the making

Team USA's win in Ottawa wasn't just a nice moment — it was historic. The 77-76 win over Canada snapped a 16-year title drought for the program, and it did it the hard way: a one-possession classic decided in the final seconds against the tournament host, in front of a building that wanted nothing more than to see Canada win at home.

Emily was part of a roster where 11 of the 12 players carried Paralympic experience into the tournament, including veterans from the program's past Paralympic runs. That kind of depth doesn't happen by accident, and neither does a world title. This group earned it.

The next stop is home soil: LA28

Here's the part that should have every Wisconsin business paying attention: Team USA now heads into the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games as the reigning world champions. Emily was a silver medalist with this same core group in Paris in 2024, and after helping deliver a World Championship in 2026, all signs point to her suiting up for Team USA when the Games come to American soil in two years.

A Wisconsin athlete, representing the USA, at a Paralympic Games hosted in her home country. That's not just a good story — that's a story brands are going to want to be a part of, and the window to get in early is right now.

Giving back, on and off the court

What makes Emily special isn't limited to what happens in the gym. Just days after helping Team USA capture that World Championship, Emily spent September 24 with Eli Lilly's team for their Global Day of Service — rolling up her sleeves for a day of community impact rather than resting on a fresh gold medal. It's the kind of thing she does quietly and consistently: she also serves as Community Outreach Director for the Wisconsin Adaptive Sports Association, co-teaches adaptive fitness classes through Aurora Healthcare, and hosts her own podcast, "Plot Twist with Emily Oberst," where she talks openly about resilience and reinvention.

Her own mission statement says it best: she wants to "spark laughter, reflection, and belief in what's possible when you refuse to give up." Anyone who partners with Emily isn't just getting a world champion athlete — they're getting someone who lives that mission every single day, in the community that raised her.

Why this matters for Wisconsin businesses

Emily Oberst is a homegrown story with a global stage now attached to it: a Brookfield kid who turned a cancer diagnosis into a Paralympic silver medal and, as of last month, a World Championship gold — with a home-soil Paralympic Games two years away. For Wisconsin companies looking to align with an athlete whose story is authentic, whose values show up in how she spends her days off, and whose biggest moment on the world stage is still ahead of her, this is about as good as it gets.

If your company is interested in partnering with Emily Oberst, I'd love to talk.

Interested in partnering with Emily Oberst or learning more about our athletes? Get in touch with our team.