Lance Armstrong

[Alma Mater]

I don't know if any one is into cycling; I cant say I'm too fond of it myself, but I just read that Lance Armstrong got recently got banned for life in a sport that he loved? He has passed over 500 drug tests and I have yet to hear that he failed a single one from 1999 through 2005. His name, reputation, and legacy are all tarnished because of the USADA's ruling.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency erased 14 years of Lance Armstrong's career Friday — including his record seven Tour de France titles — and banned him for life from the sport that made him a hero to millions of cancer survivors after concluding he used banned substances.

The article: http://news.yahoo.com/lance-armstrong-banned-life-career-vacated-170242581--spt.html

Thoughts and opinions?

 

[woodcut ox]

I also read this article on yahoo yesterday, i dont care about cycling but ill chime in.

He doesn't even care, he made all of his money it looks like.
The fact that people are justifying being a "hero" to cancer patients allows him to cheat in a sport is dumb. Everyone has there own individual hero whether its sports related or not. They all have a story and have to overcome obstacles that are challenge (granted Lance's can be debated more extreme). He might not have even been the "hero" to the cancer patients without the stuff in the first place.

 

[MitchelltheGreat]

disappointing.

Good think i didnt buy his livestrong bracelet.

 

[Emperor Nero]

The fact is that this has been going on since '99. He has been hounded by the media in Europe and the US for over a decade and has been continually attacked by the governing bodies of cycling in the US and they never had enough evidence to bring up charges. The international governing body even sided with Lance agreeing that it isn't the USADA's place to take away international titles, but they can't stop them for reasons unknown to me. The truth is that he has passed, as Alma stated, 500+ drug tests and why the USADA is attacking him now that he is retired is senseless. After fighting with all of this over a decade I would stop fighting too.

 

[Soccer is Life]

It's bullshit. He's taken 100's of drug tests and didn't fail any yet they still accuse him of doping after he is retired. I would do exactly what he did and just give up, it's not worth his time or money to keep trying to prove to them that he hasn't doped when he's already done that 100's of times before.

 

[skipjack]

Lance Armstrong gave up the fight because he and his entourage knew they wouldn't win. The agencies who are filing this doping case have a substantial amount of evidence against Armstrong. This however doesn't change the fact that he's contributed so much for cancer research.

 

[Dave.]

the amount of illegal use of drugs in sports is shameful, Lance Armstrong has been an idle for many though, and he has done a great deal for charities and raising awareness, there needs to be new methods of detecting if athletes are using banned performance enhancing drugs, one of the people who won a gold for Kazakhstan in the cycling in the Olympics had been banned before for doping.

 

[MitchelltheGreat]

Im also confused. How did he have a hundreds of drug tests, not show up positive and now he is on charges for doping. I mean unless the drug tests were altered, why would they press charges on him?

 

[SuF]

From what I gather:

All the tests he has ever taken have come back negative. He was tired of having to fight accusations based on no factual evidence (only old witness accounts) so he told them to fuck off and that he wouldn't participate in their witch hunt.

Lance Armstrong gave up the fight because he and his entourage knew they wouldn't win. The agencies who are filing this doping case have a substantial amount of evidence against Armstrong. This however doesn't change the fact that he's contributed so much for cancer research.

They don't have a shred of evidence. All the have is some people who say he was using them even though every test he ever took came back completely clean.

 

[justinkiller]

From what I gather:

All the tests he has ever taken have come back negative. He was tired of having to fight accusations based on no factual evidence (only old witness accounts) so he told them to fuck off and that he wouldn't participate in their witch hunt.



They don't have a shred of evidence. All the have is some people who say he was using them even though every test he ever took came back completely clean.

Thats my understanding of it too.
He said if he believed he could get a fair trial from the usada then he would fight back, but he believes they are too biased to hear him out.

 

[Loyal 2 da game]

so many people clearly didn't read the entire article.

lance armstrong never once failed a drug test, he was available around the clock, 365 days a year to take one. they never found shit.

like said before, he had been hounded by the USADA for years & years. lance never admitted to doping, he just decided to give up fighting them off. in his personal statement

I am a retired cyclist, yet USADA has lodged charges over 17 years old despite its own 8-year limitation.

complete garbage. in my mind, lance armstrong is still one of the greatest athletes of all time.

 

[Marek]

He's done some great things, shame to see his legacy crumble.. From what I gather it wasn't warranted either

 

[T V]

I sense a backlash in the midst... the accusations were BS. To me he's still a legend, even more so now for refusing to put up with the USADA's crap

 

[Brendan]

It's ridiculous. A man wouldn't go to jail just because another man said he shot someone. You need extensive evidence. Lance Armstrong is still one of my biggest sporting heroes. The USADA are a joke.

 

[slysteeler]

I think it's dodgy how a lot of his teammates have accused him, and other riders who were on the tour. Tyler Hamilton even went on TV and admitted it.

He didn't fail a drugs test, but a lot of doped athletes don't fail drugs tests until years later, when samples are retested. Lance didn't want his samples to be retested when he was given the opportunity to prove himself clean.

A lot of cyclists back then were on dope, so it wasn't only Lance.