Lance Armstrong, in his interview with Oprah Winfrey, has finally publicly admitted what everyone already knew: he used performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career, and heavily after beating cancer.
Hopefully people will understand both why he used drugs and why he refused to admit to using drugs, and will eventually remember him for his efforts to aid cancer victims through his Livestrong Foundation. It is unlikely anyone will look back on his cycling career and see how amazing it was, drugs or not, but that was a risk he knew he was taking.
Lance Armstrong by all accounts, is a forceful, hyper-competitive individual; always in control, always getting what he wants. As one English cycling commentator put it, he‘d love to have a beer with Lance Armstrong but wouldn’t want to have two. Apparently Armstrong doesn’t do “low-key’ or ”relaxed.” He is an intense individual all the time.
During his most successful period, 1998–2005, Armstrong admits he was an arrogant bully with a “ruthless, relentless, win-at-all-costs attitude.”
It is this competitive spirit, this unwillingness to accept anything but what he wants from himself or anyone around him, which propelled Armstrong to the top of his field, and which eventually forced him into using performance-enhancing drugs.
Artificially-Elevated Level Playing Field
Armstrong wanted to win and he would do whatever it took to win. He pushed himself to his absolute maximum, and when that wasn’t enough to keep up with the other top cyclists, who were already using drugs, Armstrong did what he had to do to win.
This was a man who never spared himself any pain or suffering in training or in a race—he did whatever it took to win. When it took using banned substances, transfusions, injections, he did those things because he was not willing to accept anything less than all-out effort.
When asked, Armstrong replied, “In my opinion, I couldn’t win without doping—not in that generation.”
Armstrong said the dictionary’s definition of “cheating” was to gain an advantage on a rival or foe. “I did not feel I was cheating to gain an advantage on a rival or foes,” he explained. “I did this on a level playing field.”
Armstrong took drugs to win, but to say Armstrong won because he took drugs would be to ignore what the rest of the peloton was doing. Armstrong took drugs to put himself on the artificially elevated performance level of the rest of the front-runners. What got him his wins was his natural ability, his effort in training, his indomitable will, his willingness to suffer, and his refusal to let anybody beat him.
Even though he was using banned substances, Armstrong was still the best cyclist of his era. He trained harder and rode harder than the competition. Unfortunately he will likely never again be respected as an amazing athlete and an incredibly talented cyclist, but he was. He couldn’t have beaten everybody else, over and over, just on the strength of his drug program, because all the top teams were using the same program.
Armstrong won by being better. If cycling had been drug-free he would have won just as many races.
Next: Focus on Fighting Cancer
Focus on the Fight Against Cancer
None of that matters now. Lance Armstrong became a cultural icon not simply because he won seven Tours de France, but because he won them after beating cancer. Armstrong used his will and his focus to help other cancer victims understand that they too could beat that horrible disease, that they needn’t be victims just because they were ill.
Every athlete’s career will end at some point. Most fade away, but Armstrong isn’t that sort. After beating all the best cyclists in the world, he chose as his next opponent a pernicious disease which 1.6 million Americans had in 2012, a disease for which the cure can be as devastating, and sometimes as lethal, as the disease itself.
In cancer, Armstrong found a worthy foe. Cancer doesn’t quit, and neither does Lance Armstrong. The good he has and could continue to do as a symbol of hope for cancer patients far outweighs anything he did on bicycle, tainted by scandal or not. His cycling career simply doesn’t matter, compared to what he can do to raise funds, raise awareness, and provide support of millions of people who might otherwise see themselves as victims.
Cancer is the second most prevalent cause of death in America, more deadly than the next five causes combined. People need all the help they can get to fight this disease, and if Armstrong can no longer be effective as a warrior against it, everybody loses.
It’s Not About You, Lance
Throughout the interview, Armstrong seemed to be focusing on personal redemption and rehabilitation. In the interview’s second segment, he said he didn’t deserve a lifetime ban from all competition—after all, the people who turned him in only got six-month bans.
“I think I deserve it,” he said of being allowed to compete again. “I deserve to be punished I don’t deserve a death sentence.”
Armstrong cannot say he deserves a chance to compete again, not simply because he used PEDs (after all, almost all his contemporaries did also; most got two-year suspensions.) Armstrong has to answer for how aggressively he defended himself, no how aggressively he attacked everyone who tried to tell the truth.
Armstrong sued people—and people who were not wealthy—because they dared tell the truth. He insulted and threatened people who told the truth, publicly ridiculed people who told the truth.
Other riders who got caught, did the time, with the exception of a few who appealed (Alberto Contador, and even he eventually agreed to do the time and lose the titles.) Floyd Landis defrauded people while raising money for his legal defense, and then admitted guilt, but he admitted guilt and accepted his penalties.
Lance Armstrong went out of his way to hurt people who told the truth. He didn’t admit to being wrong until everyone had already found out despite his lies. And even in the Oprah interview, it seemed Armstrong expected to be absolved eventually, not just of the drug use, but of all the harm he did to everyone around him, his family, and all the Livestrong supporters who felt betrayed because they supported him while he lied, vehemently, to everyone.
Forgiveness is a personal issue, and if the many people he went out of his way to hurt forgive him, he is lucky. But he has no right to expect that he will be treated like the other offenders who admitted guilt and paid the price.
Armstrong didn’t come clean when it would have meant something to everyone. He only came clean when it would mean something to him, when in fact he had lost everything and nothing else could possibly help.
Armstrong can still be an inspiration to cancer victims and caregivers, but he has no right to expect to be allowed to compete on any level. He has created a new and ridiculously extreme definition of “bad sportsmanship.” Armstrong betrayed every value of honest competition, not just by using drugs—which was de rigueur at the time—but by lying and hurting everyone who didn’t. The man can do a lot of good for others if given the chance—he hasn’t earned the right to ask for anything for himself.
Redeemed Only to Help Others
If Lance Armstrong is redeemed and his image rehabilitated, it should only be so that he can continue to help raise money to support the fight against cancer and to support cancer victims and their families. He has all the wealth, and had all the fame anyone could ever hope for. If he chose to throw it away by being a selfish jerk, that was his choice—he can live with it.
Hopefully, people will eventually understand, or maybe forget, Armstrong’s cycling career and all its darker aspects. Hopefully people will understand that whatever he did in his past, Lance Armstrong can, if allowed, do a tremendous amount of good in the future.
There is no excuse for using performance-enhancing drugs. Armstrong made the choice, and he paid, by losing all the honor his victories once brought him. The fact that cycling’s governing body turned a blind eye to what was happening in no way exonerates Armstrong; he made his choices and paid the price.
It would be a shame if he could never again do good, because of the bad things he did. Lance Armstrong might never again be respected as an athlete, but he has the will and the drive to help a lot of people who need a lot of help. Hopefully in time the public will accept him as an anti-cancer crusader, and the unique drive and intensity that took him to the top and the bottom of professional cycling will be put to a much better use.
The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 21 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.
