Back in October, the report accusing Lance Armstrong of doping came out, shocking many people around the United States and even around the world. Rumors had been thrown around for years of course, but the report directly accused the 7-time Tour de France winner of cheating so that he could win the biggest race in cycling. This accusation hit my family especially hard. My father is one of the few people to actually watch cycling on TV. He enjoys biking himself, and follows the sport avidly. I must admit that while it did get tiring at some times, he has passed on a love of cycling to me, even if I don't watch races. I had grown up hearing about some of the greats like Eddy Merckx and Armstrong. Naturally my dad and I defended Armstrong at first. He was a hero. He had survived cancer and come back to win the most Tour de Frances ever. Unfortunately for us and cycling fans everywhere, Armstrong's interview on Oprah in which he admitted to taking banned substances was a crushing blow. It depresses me to think that such a great athlete achieved most of his success through shady ways. The fact that he defended himself for so long really made many people stick by him, but by his own admittance, it was "one big lie". The article in USA Today summarized the interview that aired on Thursday, in which he admitted to doping, told exactly what he took to boost his performance, why he cheated, and various reactions, including the one from Livestrong. Livestrong is the cancer support group that Armstrong started following his own recovery. Aside from all the negativity, Armstrong is making a step in the right direction by admitting to cheating. Even more important, at least to me, is that while he has made some major mistakes, he did survive cancer, and he has contributed a lot to the world by starting Livestrong, which has inspired many people to fight their own battles against the disease. In the end, what will matter most is what Lance Armstrong does with the rest of his life. If he agrees to talk under oath about the doping he did, he may be forgiven. If he is rude and uncooperative, he will go down as a fraud and a jerk. For the sake of cycling fans and cancer patients everywhere, I hope he makes the right decision.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/cycling/2013/01/17/lance-armstrong-oprah-winfrey-confession/1843641/
This news is not shocking to anyone in the world. At this point it is safe to assume that all cyclist used performance enhancing drugs. I believe that Lance Armstrong has not done anything wrong by using performance enhancing drugs. If everyone in your sport is doing something, then you might as well do it too. Cheating can be defined as gaining an advantage over other people, therefore Lance Armstrong was not cheating because he did not gain an advantage.
ReplyDeleteI hate to say it, but I think a great majority of cyclists have achieved their success through PEDs. Unfortunately, it seems like that has been the culture in the cycling world for years. While I think it is possible to crack down, it will be tough. It will take some serious dedication from the cycling federation. While I respectfully appreciate your opinion Alex, I still think Armstrong did some serious cheating and should be punished as well as all the other cyclists that doped.
ReplyDeleteWhat if PEDs were legalized for use in cycling. Mostly everyone uses them anyway, so would it really make a difference. So many awards have been stripped that it seems like second place is really going to be first place, as soon as the person who wins is convicted. The best of the enhanced would likely be the best of the natural, so why attempt to prevent something that is so ingrained in a sport it is unlikely to ever completely rooted out
ReplyDeleteI would agree with you on the fact that lance is taking the right step. He is at a low...at least in his popularity and the only way to fix that is to admit what he has done and then do anything in his power to fix it. Unfortunantly it is a well known rumor that is most likely true that many Cyclists dope. Those in charge of cycling have a responsibility to fix the epidemic.
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