Tag Archives: Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong and the Most Sophisticated Doping Ring in Cycling

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This afternoon the US Anti-Doping Agency will release its full 1000 plus page report detailing “beyond any doubt that the US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team ran the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen.” The evidence is said to include financial payments, emails, scientific data, and laboratory test results that further prove the use, possession, and distribution of performance enhancing drugs by Lance Armstrong.

Statement from Armstrong earlier this summer when he decided to no longer pursue the legal fight against the doping allegations. The full case against Armstrong is to be released later today and includes admissions of guilt from his teammates.

Additionally, 11 teammates of Armstrong, (Frankie Andreu, Michael Barry, Tom Danielson, Tyler Hamilton, George Hincapie, Floyd Landis, Levi Leipheimer, Stephen Swart, Christian Vande Velde, Jonathan Vaughters and David Zabriskie) have admitted to participating in the USPS Team doping conspiracy, which was “professionally designed to groom and pressure athletes to use dangerous drugs, to evade detection, to ensure its secrecy and ultimately gain an unfair competitive advantage through superior doping practices”. Particularly damaging was the admission of doping from George Hincapie, who was at Armstrong’s side for all 7 of his now recalled Tour de France victories. It is a sad, but inevitable day for the cycling world, hopefully this will bring about a new era of honest competition, free of doping and performance enhancing drugs, not just in cycling, but all sports.

Update: Here is a link to the Reasoned Decision document

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Lance Armstrong and the Fight He Couldn’t Win

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Sorry for the lack of posts recently, I was preparing for, and ultimately successfully, defending my PhD (humble brag).

Picking up from my last post, today the cycling world is reeling (is that a pun?) from Lance Armstrong’s decision to no longer contest the doping charges being levelled against him by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Armstrong’s decision to no longer pursue this fight, is being seen by many as an admission to guilt, and that the claims against him “have substance“. Because USADA is affiliated with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the decision to ban Armstrong and strip him of his records and wins, will be upheld internationally. This means his 7 Tour de France titles are gone, and likely his bronze medal at the 2000 Olympic Games will also be stripped.

Excerpt from Lance Armstrong’s statement explaining his decision to no longer fight the allegations against him. Source.

In his statement, Armstrong likened the continued accusations against him to a “witch hunt”, and maintained his innocence, while attacking the system he deemed corrupt and unconstitutional. The fallout and impact of this decision on Armstrong’s legacy, and indeed his foundation, remains to be seen, but I can’t help but feel incredibly saddened by his decision to no longer fight. Granted, the odds may have been against him, and the financial burden of the continued legal fees was starting to take a toll, but Armstrong has proved, perhaps more than any other athlete, that you can come back and fight back from anything, and overcome the odds. To see a man known for his ability to fight back and his resilience, give up this fight, essentially pleading no contest to the charges against him, is sad. Both because of the seeming admission of guilt, but also to see this man defeated in a contest that he thought he couldn’t win is, well I don’t really have any better adjectives to describe it, sad.

 

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