• Time, Wednesday, November 4, 2009 12:30 PM

What Formula One really needs, perhaps, is the support of a hot satirist to give it some gas with the public. On Monday's "Colbert Report" on Comedy Central, host Stephen Colbert announced his Comedy Central show's sponsorship of the U.S. Speedskating team, Sean Gregory reports, and Colbert asked his fans to support it, too.

The team's largest cash sponsor, the Dutch bank DSB, went bankrupt a couple of weeks ago.

Colbert Nation logos will be stitched onto the suits of both long-track and short-track skaters during World Cup competitions before the Olympics. "We must ensure that it is America's 38-inch thighs on that medal platform," a Colbert press release announcing the sponsorship says. But, says U.S. Speedskating executive director Robert Crowley, "We're not viewing this as a joke at all."

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