Lance Armstrong Scandal
Famed cyclist Lance Armstrong will no longer be remembered for his numerous awards and victories but will forever live in infamy for what has been called the most elaborate doping scandal in cycling. The man who put his sport on the map has been stripped of all of his many accomplishments and for some the respect they felt for this seemingly miraculous human being was also stripped away.
On Jan. 17 and 18 Armstrong’s interview with Oprah Winfrey aired in which he confessed to his use of growth hormones, cortisone, EPO, steroids and testosterone.
Armstrong said, “All the fault and all the blame here falls on me…I viewed this situation as one big lie that I repeated a lot of times…I made my decisions. They are my mistakes,” he admitted the to the wrongs he committed and agreed that he is “a flawed character”.
Lance Armstrong won arguably the most challenging race there is, the Tour de France, a record setting seven consecutive time. He has now recently been banned from cycling for life by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
“I think there were parts of this scheme that were run like a mafia,” said Armstrong.
The real question is, “Why did a man with what appeared to be such strong moral values, take the risk of throwing away his entire career by doping?”
“I think [my biggest flaw was] this just ruthless desire to win. Win at all costs, truly,” said Armstrong.
Senior Miguel Fierro agrees, believing that the need to become a “dominant athlete” drove Lance Armstrong to inject.
As for the concern of athletes using illegal drugs in sports across the board, freshman Sophie Davenport believes “steroids are used in every sport. The athletes are lured into using them when they think about how much better they could be with steroids.”
Chloe Percival, sophomore, said, “Constantly wanting to be better and working towards new goals” contributed to the problem.
For many, despite the immense crime that took place, forgiveness of Armstrong is in the cards. “I don’t judge anybody. If [Armstrong] says he’s sorry, I forgive him,” football coach Nathan Watson said, “I don’t think [doping] is right. However, in today’s society, I can see how it’s very tempting because there’s so much money on the line.”
Others cannot simply forget about the crime committed, “He didn’t earn all of his awards and should not have been praised as he was. He wasn’t truthfully an amazing athlete,” stated Davenport.
Whether forgiven or not, Lance Armstrong will undoubtedly have a reputation, that spent years in the making, to rebuild and will always be credited to one of most professional doping operations in the history of cycling.
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