TeamUSA.org profiles Mike “Meatball” Friedman as he makes his Olympic debut in Beijing in the 50 km Madison track event.

From the article: “Although Friedman considered himself a road cyclist, he decided to pursue track cycling partly, he said, ‘because of my body physique. I’m short and round, and low to the ground’ - like a meatball.”

“Even as a kid, he said he had ‘upside-down bowling pins for calves, short fat little legs, and a big ass.’ He had been quick on a bike, but he also had endurance so he ran 800 meters and the mile in track. Wrestling was his other high school sport, but the wrestling-cycling combination was unusual and the truck-driver’s son who shaved his legs was not always understood by his Pittsburgh peers.”