After more than a decade of outrunning accusations that he had doped during his cycling career, Lance Armstrong, one of the most well-known and accomplished athletes in history, finally surrendered on Thursday, etching a dark mark on his legacy by ending his fight against charges that he used performance-enhancing drugs.
Armstrong, who won the Tour de France an unprecedented seven straight times, said Thursday that he would not continue to fight the charges levied against him by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which contended that he doped and was one of the ringleaders of systematic doping on his Tour-winning teams.
"There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, 'Enough is enough,' " Armstrong said in a statement, adding that his decision is not an admission of drug use but a refusal to enter an arbitration process he believes is improper and unfair to athletes facing charges.
"The toll this has taken on my family and my work for our foundation and on me leads me to where I am today — finished with this nonsense."
His decision means he will be stripped of his Tour titles (1999 to 2006), the bronze medal he won at the 2000 Olympics and all other titles, awards and money he won from August 1998 on.
It also means he will be barred for life from competing, coaching or having any official role with any Olympic sport or other sport that follows the World Anti-Doping Code.
Armstrong says USADA doesn't have the authority to vacate his Tour titles. USADA chief executive Travis Tygart thinks otherwise.
Tygart called the Armstrong case a "heartbreaking" example of a win-at-all costs approach.
I'm sure many of the cyclists during his reign were doing the same thing but that doesn't make it right.
If Armstrong truly was innocent, he would fight to the end to prove his innocence. If I were truly innocent, I am not going to allow anyone tarnish my name and legacy. I will not allow anyone strip me of my titles. I would do whatever it took. I can only imagine that most people (particularly competitive athletes) would want to do the same. For me, by giving up, he is admitting his guilt.
0 comments:
Post a Comment