A lifetime ban, titles stripped and lies. These are the tag lines that are recently following Lance Armstrong around in his daily life and any conversation pertaining to him. As many people know, Lance Armstrong has been charged for doping while competing in the top notch competition of the Tour de France and he has been stripped of his titles from the tour that he won in consecutive years. If that is not bad enough, he has recently been served a letter from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency about lying many times in the Oprah Winfrey interview that says, “he has until February 6 to tell the truth in exchange for a possible lessening of his lifetime ban from sports” according to NYDailyNews.
I think that the interview and all the events that have happened up to the confessions of doping have been ridiculous and unnecessary. Armstrong simply needed to come clean and avoid making more of a mess for himself. At this point, with everything that has transpired since the initial allegations, there is absolutely no route to repair. A question I have asked myself and many others is how can you live with the knowledge that you have cheated in order to win? And how could you not live in guilt? I could never do that to other people, especially to so many who believe in me such as Lance’s followers from his organization and personal story.
I talked to many people following the Oprah Winfrey interview about their reactions and many were not positive for Lance. Miranda Lofgren said, “I think that it is sad that his actions are going to effect Livestrong because it is such a strong organization” and Mikey Mulhearn said, “I have lost a lot of respect for him and I think he got what he deserves. I don’t like how it will hurt the Livestong organization though.”
I agreed with them wholeheartedly because this is an icon that had so much going for him and his organization and now the illusion of perfection has been shattered. If you had so much running for yourself, why risk it? I feel that with many famous icons who are living in public scrutiny, this is a question that a lot of us normal people ask ourselves when something goes wrong for them that was their own doing by choice. Lance made a choice and it has cost him almost everything. Not only have I found all of this news ridiculous and shocking, but finding out that a “donation” to the USADA was to be made by a close representative of Armstrong’s in 2004 and that it was turned down by the agency was only more disappointing in the scheme of everything that has been learned in this issue.
At the end of the day, a most beloved idol has been torn from the pedestal of fame due to a choice that will most likely haunt him for the rest of his life. It will take me awhile to come to terms with this whole debacle and I am not sure about you, but what will this do for the future of sports?