The story of Lance Armstrong - Writing Wednesday
Hello everybody and welcome back to another blog post,
I know that this post is probably going to immediately frustrate some people just by even reading the title. However, I thought that it would be interesting to voice Lance's side of the huge scandal that he was involved in because I think that it broadcasts a much larger message than just that he was selfish and completely lost the dignity of his fans. It voices some of the crude truths that go on behind the scenes when athletes train and you soon realise then that the sportsmanship and the camaraderie that is supposedly what formulates events like the Tour de France and even the Olympics, is not what formulates them at all. Instead they have become epicentres for drugs related issues in sports and pretty much anything that questionably enhances the performance of athletes because unhealthy competition now overrides the value of representing the sport. So yes, Lance was a manipulator and is probably one of the biggest liars to date but why this scandal happened is probably more shocking and that's what I'm going to talk about today.
I watched Lance's 2-part documentary, Lance, a couple months ago now. I didn't really know who Lance was because he was quite well-known in the 90s and early 2000s but I quite quickly realised that he was once a competitive cyclist who won the Tour de France on several occasions and was named one of the most controversial figures in sport because of the scandal that he was later involved in. Around 2011, Lance Armstrong was investigated as rising suspicions grew that he was doping in order to win the Tour de France. Lance initially denied these allegations against him and even sued people for claiming that it was true. However, later that year, two of his close friends, Betsy and her husband Frankie Andreu, who was a former professional cyclist and team captain on the U.S. Postal Service cycling team, spilled the truths as tensions to speak up continued to grow. Frankie wrote his testimony to the United States Anti-Doping Agency explaining what had really been going on over the last 20 years or so. Not even checking for spelling or grammatical errors, Lance's once close friend published this testimony and honourable though it may have been, Lance's story was now open to the public and there was no going back on what had now been leaked out in the open. Soon the law got involved on the case and the mountain of evidence now stacked against him suggested that there was a very high chance that Lance was lying all this time.
On an interview in 2013, Oprah Winfrey asked Lance a series of yes or no questions to conjure out what Lance had really been getting involved in. On the interview, to everyone's complete surprise, Lance admitted to taking banned performance enhancing drugs to try and win the Tour de France. One of these drugs was EPO, which was banned because it generated more red blood cells in the athletes body so that they had more oxygen to sustain the physical excursion when they competed. Lance also admitted to taking the male hormone testosterone, to enhance his stamina whilst cycling, and Lance also admitted that he did regular blood transfusions to also increase the amount of blood in his body when he was competing. What is perhaps even more shocking is that Lance had done this ever since we was 21 years old which meant that all his successes in the Tour de France that occurred after this, were not done on his own merit.
OWN
When this news came out, it was a huge shock to many of Lance's fans. Particularly those who were a part of his cancer charity, the Livestrong Foundation. In 1996, Lance was diagnosed with stage 3 testicular cancer and it was so aggressive that the cancer had even spread to his lymph nodes, lungs, brain, and abdomen and Lance had to undergo years of treatment. Although his eventual remission inspired many other cancer patients to continue their fight and although his charity had raised a lot of money for a good cause, many of his supportive cancer patients and survivors were extremely disappointed and ashamed to have supported Lance after they heard what he had done. There was even strong speculation circulating that his cancer was caused by his drug misuse which although wasn't proven for certain, did make his cause seem all the more unjustifiable.
However, it's important when looking at this story to understand the context of the situation. Lance did cheat to win to put it simply but he still did not lack in talents when it came to cycling. Considering Lance is American and that the USA isn't particularly well known for it's cycling plethora of athletes, Lance was a prominent figure who showed that the sport of cycling isn't something that is only associated with the Europeans. His talent from a very young age also allowed him to still gain the fame. As a teenager, he joined triathlon competitions underage at the age of 16, desperate to try and win and although he was the youngest, he still achieved what he wanted to. This isn't exactly the sign of someone who wanted the glory but really had nothing to show for it.
It's also important to note Lance's family situation when he was young. Lance's mother, Linda Armstrong Kelly, had Lance at the age of 16 years old whilst she was still in high school. Lance lived a good life with her as Linda worked hard to support her son but after Lance's biological father refused to take responsibility for his son, Linda was left on her own. She met many different partners after that and even got Lance's surname changed to Armstrong when she met one of Lance's stepfathers. However, this sometimes made Lance very confused when he was young and without a secure patriarchal family figure in his life, Lance found it very difficult to sometimes control his strong and demanding personality. This could perhaps suggest why he was so led to take EPO and other performance enhancing drugs. It could also show us why he dismissed his friends Frankie and Betsy Andreu when they revealed the truth.
When Lance got involved with the unreliable cycling coach, Michele Ferrari, his attitude to win was further fuelled when Ferrari suggested taking EPO and other performance enhancing drugs in order to achieve this. Lance's cycling teammates like Frankie Andreu, were also drawn into this, which suggests that this was something pretty systematic. This shows that although events like the Tour de France seem to be about celebrating the love of sport and the athletes who train hard everyday just to take part, the reality is that teams and coaches are only really worried about their own self image and what they come across as to the general public so a loss in the competition is simply considered not good enough. This attitude occurs more often than we care to think. I would love to say that the Olympics is a celebration of international co-operation but that would simply not be true because countries want the biggest stadium to out win the other past stadiums and teams cheat by sending in underage athletes just so that they can win. I have massive respect for athletes because I know it takes a lot of work to reach an elite level but there's some things in the system like in the Tour de France that I simply cannot agree with. Luckily Michele Ferrari was taken to court for his numerous anti-doping violations but Lance was put into a situation where it was easy for him to violate the rules in his sport. I know it is easier said than done but I truly believe that if the competitive industry of sport was all about self-improvement, the love of sport, and the input of the team I think the industry would be changed for the better.
Have you watched Lance's documentary? What's your opinion on what he did? Let me know in the comments below and I'll be sure to reply to them. I ♡ hearing from you!
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Bye,
XOX, Juliette
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