THE DECEPTIVE WORLD CHAMPION: LANCE ARMSTRONG

Athletic figure

“Anything is possible. You can be told that you have a 90-percent chance or a 50- percent chance or a 1-percent chance, but you have to believe, and you have to fight.” (thebiographychannel)

There were words said by Lance Edward Gunderson Armstrong before fess up to what the world already knew “Doping”. For nearly a decade, Armstrong had been under intense speculation that he had used performance enhancing drugs. Despite Armstrong successfully passing multiple drug tests during the years, the accusations continued till In January 2013, while giving an interview to Oprah Winfrey, Armstrong fessed up that he took performance enhancing drugs, insisting even that he did not believe he could have won all seven Tour de France titles without doping. Now, let us see some important event about life and career of this famous and controversy athlete. 

Lance Edward Gunderson Armstrong was born on September 18, 1971, in Plano, Texas. He took the last name "Armstrong" when his mother's second husband adopted him. At the early age he became in athletic running and swimming at 10 years old, and took up competitive cycling and triathlons. Soon, Armstrong became a professional triathlete but finally this successful athlete chosen to focus on cycling. His immense achievements have earned him a host of awards in the course of his career. (Wikipedia)

During his years in high school, the United States Olympic development team invited him to train with them in Colorado. In 1991, Armstrong competed in his first Tour DuPont covering 1,085 miles over 11 days. After finishing second in the U.S. Olympic time trials in 1992, Armstrong was favored to win the road race in Barcelona, Spain. 

With a surprisingly sluggish performance, Armstrong turned professional immediately after the Olympics, joining the Motorola cycling team for a respectable yearly salary. In August 1993 Armstrong won his most important race: the World Road Race Championship in Oslo, Norway. After that, Armstrong rode again for the Olympic team in Atlanta. 

During his successful career Armstrong reached the top winning seven consecutive Tour de France titles between 1999 and 2005. (cbsnews.com)

In October 1996 this International Cycling Star was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Doctors detected tumors in his brain and lungs. The athlete drastically modified his eating habits, and beginning aggressive chemotherapy. When doctors found tumors he decided to have a subsequent surgery to remove his tumors. The surgery was successful and after a lot sections of chemotherapy, Armstrong was declared cancer-free in February 1997. Armstrong returned to competitive cycling with the Astana team in January 2009 and finished third in the 2009 Tour de France. (biography.com)

Armstrong was under intense speculation that he had used illegal drugs to increase his performance from 1999 to 2005. During this period he won the Tour de France seven consecutive times. In June 2012, the U.S Anti - Doping Agency brought formal charges against him, threatening to strip the cyclist all of his titles. 

Finally, in January 2013, while giving an interview to Oprah Winfrey, Armstrong accepted to taking performance drugs. 





The International Cycling Union officially stripped Armstrong of his seven Tour de France victories. The union also banned Armstrong from the sport for life. The International Cycling Union president Pat McQu said that "Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling." (starpulse.com)

As a conclusion, all things considered, it is important to mention that after a decade of lies, cheating, and a relentless campaign of vilification against this athlete, I consider that despite of all fouls and errors that the dishonest Cycling made, he decided to tell the truth. Nevertheless, he didn't name names; he didn't say who supplied him and what officials were involved. Without any doubt, he is a real athlete, he fought against cancer, and became in a successful athlete in early years.