Last night news broke throughout the cycling and sports world that all-time great Lance Armstrong would drop his fight against drug charges against him. What happens now is that the US Anti-Doping Agency will take action against Armstrong, removing him of his seven Tour de France titles and giving him a lifetime ban. Armstrong could get additional penalties in the future but for now these are the actions that will be taken towards him. Too harsh? I’m not sure at this point, Lance was quoted as saying “I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999. The toll this has taken on my family and my work for our foundation and on me leads me to where I am today — finished with this nonsense.” so it should be noted that this is not an admission of guilt, he just doesn’t think the fight is worth the sacrifices anymore. Now the question is: how does this affect Armstrong’s legacy?
One has to see that his accusations come in a sport where doping and cheating seem to be the normal. All one has to do is look at the men that finished closely behind Lance Armstrong in all those races, most of them have already been charged with the same things. Knowing all of this, how much does this really hurt Armstrong’s legacy as one of the greatest, if not THE greatest cyclist of all time? It has to be taken into consideration that his Livestrong foundation has raised massive amounts of money to help in the fight against cancer. Anyone else wear one of those yellow bracelets for a while? I did. Seriously, the man fought cancer himself so can you really blame him for trying to get the extra edge against his competitors? If he did in fact cheat, will people forgive him because he’s been so great otherwise. For now I think he just needs to weather the storm until things calm down and people react more rationally. Lance Armstrong will be remembered as a man who used illegal substances in a sport where it was extremely common but at the same time he did so much outside of cycling with his foundation to help the fight against cancer.
He never failed a test. That's all anyone needs to know. There needs to be a statute of limitations on this type of persecution.
Like you said, the tests had no legal relevance. The fact remains he never failed one, USADA could never produce one, the only intimidation that went on was USADA threatening ruin on other guilty dopers unless they named Armstrong, so it's his word against a snitch. I applaud Armstrong for not playing USADA's little power game, because trophies or no, everybody knows who won those races so it is really a moot point.
He already cashed his check....the guy is mega rich. People generally don't care about athletes using PEDs anymore and he has done so much for charity. He put cycling on the map and now that he is out of the sport, nobody cares about the sport anymore. Also, he banged Cheryl Crow. The guy is a American hero.
Armstrong actually tested positive many times during his career but the tests had no legal relevance because only the B samples remained. He urine samples from 99 contained EPO but that could only be verified 6 years later when the technology to do so became available. Armstrong always said he never failed a test, carefully ignoring the existence of the B samples. Then, when he realized those samples were going to be used as proof, he started saying that they had been "maintained improperly" and that it was in fact no his urine but someone else's.
He also tried to intimidate other riders who were admitting to doping (see Filippo Simeoni ), calling them liars or mentally unstable, because he feared it would ultimately link him to the party. Now he seems to be adopting a new stance by saying "haters gonna hate" and acting like a martyr in an attempt to salvage whatever is left from his legacy.
I just never bought the concept that a guy that never failed a test and got screwed by guys trying to desperately save their own asses would be found guilty with absolutely no proof. Like Lumpy Sanders said up there, it was purely circumstantial.They believe the cheaters: what a system.
There is substantial proof in the form of testimony, covered up tests, blood values, lots more circumstantial evidence.
I just never bought the concept that a clean guy dominated a sport that was filled with dirty guys.
Lance is the man. All pro athletes use PEDs, so what's the big deal? If I was a pro, I would too. Everybody is looking for an edge.
I think the only thing he's been guilty of is participating in a sport that is notorious for doping although he never failed a test. Good for him to tell them to piss up a rope. Let them do what they will, because they can't prove he didn't win those titles.
in THAT sport + having not failed a test I think most people won't care, another sport it would be different