Lance Armstrong admits to doping

[Shinobu]

So it has come to this...

Last month, Lance Armstrong boarded a plane for Denver to do something several of his lawyers had advised against: sitting down for a private conversation with the head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

Travis Tygart had given the star cyclist no reason to believe that USADA would soften the lifetime ban from elite competition for what the agency called the "most sophisticated doping program on the planet." But Mr. Armstrong hoped he could change that.

At the meeting near the Denver airport, Mr. Armstrong talked openly about doping, arguing that cheating was rampant in all pro sports, including the National Football League, according to someone familiar with the meeting. He complained that he was being singled out for punishment. As the discussion wound down without Mr. Tygart budging, the seven-time Tour de France winner seemed ready to walk out.

This week, Mr. Armstrong is launching a public campaign to restore his image. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey taped Monday and scheduled for broadcast Thursday, Mr. Armstrong admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs.

...

Behind Lance Armstrong's Decision to Talk - WSJ.com

I'm actually a little surprised that he's doing this. There's still a large constituency of people who believe(d) that he was never doping. He's facing a lot of trouble right now. He lost his Nike sponsorship and his legal troubles are pretty impressive. He's being sued by the people and organizations he sued for libel. There's also Floyd Landis's whistle blower lawsuit. He could certainly use the money from the interview, plus this will be step one in rebuilding his image.

The interviews tonight at 9 PM EST on OWN.

 

[Beck]

I watched the entire interview and everything he said I expected to come out of his mouth. When admitting to doping you don't have a lot of options when apologizing, so although the interview was interesting it was also predictable.

I do agree with him when he says that doping is present in every pro sport, though. It's all a giant business behind the pretty curtains; I'm positive there are plenty other pro athletes in the world today who dope in such a manner, and it's a huge shame. The fact that many of the heroes or entertainers in society today have to cheat to get where they are is saddening to say the very least. That being said, morally you don't cheat to beat cheaters. It's wrong and for Lance to blame others of doping is extremely hypocritical and disgusting. He is in no place to accuse anyone else of doping or lying.

 

[Shinobu]

So I saw the whole interview. Part one was interesting, but I didn't find part two that great. It kind of looked like he was trying to cry in the second part. The line, "I called you crazy, I called you a bitch, but I never called you fat," was probably the highlight of the interview.

I found this today: Kathy LeMond: Lance Armstrong embarrassed, not sorry - More Sports - David Epstein - SI.com. Here are some highlights.

SI: So Armstrong threatened you and Greg in 2001, when Greg spoke out and said he thought Lance was doping.
LeMond: That call is embedded in my and Greg's heads. It was a life-changing thing and we knew it at the time.

SI: What was it like?
LeMond: Terrified. Terrified. I don't know if you've talked to other people who have gotten that call. But [Armstrong] is crazy angry. He is screaming. He gets out of control. I mean, he threatens in a way ... he said to Greg that he would find 10 guys to come out and say that Greg had used EPO to win in his career. He was convinced that Greg could never have won clean. He was like, 'come on, you used EPO, everyone used EPO.' Greg said, 'I did not use EPO!' And he said he'd find 10 guys to say Greg did.

SI: You and others have said Armstrong and associates aggressively pursued information about Armstrong's detractors.
LeMond: Today I tweeted out [columnist] George Vecsey's quote where Lance said to him that 'I can get into your emails, I can get into your phones, I know what you're doing at all times.' He's had us followed.

SI: What did you and Greg make of the part one of the Oprah interview?
LeMond: It's all about how he can forward himself. This is not authentic. If this were authentic, he would ask to talk to us and ask, 'What can I do to heal you? I really hurt you.'

SI: Are you convinced by anything in his sort of general admission of mistakes?
LeMond: No. No. Honestly, I don't feel that he's even in there. I do believe he's embarrassed, kind of. One of our lawyers has a house in Hawaii just down from Lance and I talked to him a couple days ago and he said every other year he's been there he sees Lance out riding with locals and everybody's kind of excited. Now he said he's never with anybody out on the road. He's by himself. ... I think it's hit him. People don't want to be near him. He's become a pariah. I think he's flailing, but I don't have any reason to believe what he's saying is true. The parts I know of what he's saying aren't true! Or only partially true.

SI: How does Greg feel?
LeMond: He's so angry that Lance didn't have the decency to apologize to Betsy and Emma [O'Reilly]. That was the bare minimum on trying to repair the personal damage he's done in the last decade.

SI: What about apologizing to Greg?
LeMond: If I don't hear something tonight, I'm going to be really upset. I spoke with Oprah's people and I would hope that they would ask that, because Lance did terrible damage to Greg's reputation. He is owed an apology. The things he's said, 'Greg's an alcoholic, Greg's a drunk.' I had a reporter tell me one time, the guy called me and asked if Greg's a heroin addict. ...I want him to address what he's done to Greg. He didn't have any problem saying the horrible things to the whole entire world.

SI: It's thought that Greg's brand with Trek would have been worth tens of millions if Armstrong had not pushed to have Trek drop Greg.
LeMond: Do you know what a loss that was for us? We lost our income. We lost our company. Greg lost his reputation.

 

[Hunter Blade]

I'm not at all surprised that this happened. If he hadn't admitted, he'd be in legal battles for the rest of his life or until he did admit, since there's absolutely no way they could prove 100% that he didn't dope. This way he can at least clean up the stuff that's left and move on.

 

[zakisrage]

Three of my friends threw out their LiveStrong armbands once they found out the news. It's a shame that Lance is a fake. So much to inspiring millions of people.