Cycling skinsuit worn by Bobby Lea during the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games
date: label: used date
content: 2008-08-19
name: label: user
content: Lea, Bobby
label: maker
content: Nike, Inc.
notes: label: Description
content: This short sleeve track cycling skinsuit was worn by American Bobby Lea (b. 1983) when he competed in the Madison event during the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, held in Beijing, China. Lea, a multiple-time national champion in the Madison and numerous other track cycling events, finished 1st in the Scratch Race at the 2012 Pan American Championships and competed in the Omnium at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
label: Description
content: The Madison is raced on an oval cycling track, also called a velodrome, and is named after its first venue, Madison Square Garden in New York City. It is also known as “The American Race” or course à l'américaine in French and Americana in Italian and Spanish.
label: Description
content: The Madison event held at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place at the 250 meter Laoshan Velodrome in Beijing, China on August 19th. The race was 50 kilometers long and lasted for 200 laps. Bobby Lea and his partner Michael Friedman finished in 16th place overall. An Olympic event since 2000, the Madison’s final year of Olympic competition was at the 2008 games.
label: Description
content: The Madison event began after late 19th century legal restrictions were placed on the popular Six Day races held in velodromes around the United States. The original format of these races had individual riders racing 24 hours a day for six consecutive days. While the event was very popular with crowds, and riders were paid extremely well, the demands of riding continuously for six days took a mental and physical toll on the racers.
label: Description
content: Eventually, laws were passed in New York State and Illinois in 1898 that prevented cyclists in six-day races from racing longer than 12 hours at a time. Not wanting to close the venue for half of the day, the promoter of the Madison Square Garden Six Day races changed the event to use teams of two or three, allowing the races to go on for 24 hours, without having individual riders exceed the 12 hour limit.
label: Description
content: Today, the format of the Madison consists of teams of riders, usually two, racing for a set distance on the velodrome. No longer a 24 hour/six-day long event, the goal of the race is for one team to finish their laps before the others. Because only a single rider from each team can participate in the race at a time, one rider races around the bottom of the track trying to gain laps or hold position on the other teams, while the other rides at a slower pace, resting, near the top of the track. Teammates in the Madison swap positions after being tagged in by the other rider, though more commonly they are launched into the race with a push or a hand-sling motion.
label: Description
content: The Madison continues to be an annual Cycling World Championship event and is often featured in a shortened format alongside other track events at modern six-day races.
label: Description
content: The 2008 Summer Olympics, also known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad were held in Beijing, China with 204 countries, 6,305 men and 4,637 women athletes participating. The swimming competition included 65 World and Olympic records being set which most attribute to the use of the Speedo LZR Racer swimsuit developed in part my NASA. Michael Phelps won eight gold medals at these games, the most of any athlete in a single Olympic Games and broke many records. The LZR Racer was subsequently banned from competition as they gave the competitor a technical edge that was deemed unfair by FINA, the International Federation used by the International Olympic Committee for overseeing international water sport competitions. BMX racing was added to the cycling events and American Nastia Liukin won gold in the all-around gymnastic competition. Two disabled athletes competed in the Olympics instead of the Paralympics because neither used a prosthesis to give them an advantage in competition. The United States won the medal count with 112 but China won the gold medal count with 12 more than the Americans.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: worn
content: China: Beijing Shi, Beijing
topic: label: name of sport
content: Cycling
label: level of sport
content: Olympics
label: web subject
content: Sports
label: related event
content: Olympic Summer Games: Beijing, 2008
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Sport and Leisure
label: See more items in
content: Bicycling
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2012.0213.01
label: catalog number
content: 2012.0213.01
label: accession number
content: 2012.0213
objectType: label: Object Name
content: cycling skinsuit, summer olympics
label: Object Name
content: cycling skinsuit
label: Object Name
content: cycling skinsuit, olympics
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: synthetic elastic fabric (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: white (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: dark blue (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: red (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: gray (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: medium blue (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (zipper material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 36 in x 28 in; 91.44 cm x 71.12 cm