By now this is somewhat old news, but it’s too cool to not write about.

With the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver just a few short months away, the U.S. Speed Skating Team was hit with a major setback after their main sponsor, bankrupt Dutch bank DSB Bank NV, was unable to fund them further.

This left the team with a $300,000 shortfall. Enter Stephen Colbert and the Colbert Nation.

On Monday night, Dan Jansen and U.S. Speedskating executive director Robert Crowley appeared on The Colbert Report, with the host inking a deal to sponsor the team. Fans can head to Colbert Nation to make a contribution.

This is going to be a great deal for everyone. For the cost of airtime, the Colbert Report will get advertising spots on athletes with the best chances of earning medals, plus they’ll likely have the story of their sponsorship covered all over the world. Fans will be able to feel like they’re a part of the team, and the team itself will get some much-needed cash at the 11th hour.

The biggest winner of all will of course be Stephen Colbert’s ego. If any speed skater so much as sniffs gold in Vancouver, you can bet that he will find his way up on to the podium.

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In America, if you flip off some fans, you might get suspended for a few games. In China, that will get you a 12 month ban.

Chinese speed skater Song Xingyu found that out the hard way after giving rival fans a one-fingered salute at the end of a race.

Xingyu said afterward, “I apologize to all the spectators. I shouldn’t have made that gesture,” said the 20-year-old. “But I did it because some people attacked me verbally and abused my parents. I was furious.”

He also complained that fans chanted for him to fall down and also beat drums too loudly for his liking.

“We need to look into the matter and, if it is true, we will deal with it seriously,” said Lan Li, vice director of China’s Winter Sports Administrative Center. “We also hope spectators learn more about winter sports and create a friendly atmosphere for the competition.”

It sounds to me like the atmosphere is pretty good, and Song Xingyu just needs to grow a pair and learn how to compete.

Song skating on thin ice after ‘one-finger salute’ to crowd [China Daily]

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