Did you hear about Lance Armstrong?
The seven-time Tour de France winner has quit. The man who beat cancer, the man who inspired millions of yellow bracelets to the point of ridiculousness, the man who was strong and powerful enough to give us all hope has thrown in the towel. He is done fighting.
Thursday, Mr. Armstrong announced that he will not fight the USADA’s allegations that he was doping it up while he was competing. He says:
“I refuse to participate in a process that is so one-sided and unfair.”
Which, of course, has everyone wondering whether or not he really is innocent, as he claims. On the one hand, I can understand where he is coming from. At some point, the accusations become ridiculous and annoying, and for some, knowing the truth about themselves is enough. Mr. Armstrong has said that people’s minds are probably already made up about whether or not he is innocent, so he doesn’t think a trial is necessary. As long as he knows the truth, that’s all that matters. This is what, I believe, a truly strong, confident person would do.
On the other hand, um, if you’re innocent, why wouldn’t you want to prove that? Why would you be okay with being stripped of your trophies…just because you are tired of fighting? Also, as a champion, as an inspiration to cancer fighters and would-be athletic heroes everywhere, aren’t you being somewhat hypocritical? When you inspire others to fight and work hard to overcome challenging situations…and then you quit when faced with a challenging situation, you are not practicing what you preach.
This last point alone is what has me questioning Mr. Armstrong’s innocence. Forget him trying to prove himself, forget him being tired of fighting and wanting to be able to focus his energies on his foundation. What his legacy is (or should I use past tense here?) was about overcoming hardships. But it seems when faced with the biggest hardship, the would-be-champion is no hero. He is just an ordinary–maybe even a tad weak–man.
What do you think about Lance Armstrong’s decision not to fight the allegations?
image via WikiCommons
The problem is more that they won’t give him a fair chance to fight it. Its a one sided thing. He said he would fight it if it was a fair fight, like in a real trial, but they can string him up without having a burden of proof. They have gone back 17 years with him, even though their own rules state they can only go back 8 years.
They can’t prove it, or they wouldn’t resort to these things. He’s giving up because he will never win, so why fight.
Its bollux if you ask me. He’s not weak, he’s just not going to waste his energy on something that isn’t fair.
Lance did try to fight – but a judge threw out his lawsuit! Of course he’s given up if even the courts won’t help him prove he’s innocent!
He has been proving his innocence for years. And I think he is finally just tired of it all. He has passed every drug test given to him and now based on the testimony of former teammates he is being challenged again and again. It’s not a fair fight. They have no evidence and plan to simply crucify him in public opinion with nothing to back it up.
What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty?
The thing is Kelli, he shouldn’t have to prove he’s innocent. That’s not the way our legal system works. The USADA should have to bear the burden of proving his guilt. But because they’re are not really a government agency, they’re not bound by the same rules. The US Justice Dept investigated him several years ago, but didn’t have enough evidence to file charges.
This has been going on for years. And even if he kept fighting, it would still go on for years. He passed every drug test he’s taken. He’s proclaimed his innocence. I don’t think an organization should have the power to revoke his wins and titles without finding him guilty of something illegal.
Yeah I am in the THIS WHOLE THING IS UNFAIR camp. It seems unfair that he has to keep defending himself, but it seems even more unfair this organization with no TRUE authority is costing him mountains of legal fees over something they may not even have jurisdiction over.
I am curious (and hoping he kicks their asses) to see how this whole thing plays out, but I don’t see how they could possibly strip him of anything or ban him from anything.
I don’t think you can compare him beating cancer or winning races – two things he had a LOT of control over (could get himself the best treatments/research, live a healthy lifestyle, train hard, etc) – to him fighting legal charges (something that, in the end, requires another person to make a decision; this is not something he can do on his own, unlike the medical and physical fights). It’s apples and oranges…
I think this is an interesting topic, just not presented well in this article.
^What Anthony said. Innocent until proven guilty. I do wonder if Lance is “throwing in the towel” to get more people to pay attention to the injustice and insanity of having to prove he is innocent.
Like he needs to fight it? I think this will actually rally people around him and marginalizes the USADA. In addition, the USADA has no authority over the tour – and the tour is letting them make decisions about their race and their rules. That’s the real story – not that Lance flipped the bird to the USADA.
I know one person who has already said they will disassociate themselves from USAT so that Lance can compete in triathlons. The whole thing is rigged and bogus and bullshit.
WHO THE HELL CARES?!?!?! (Oh, right, the other cyclists who wouldn’t have won the Tour de France ANYWAY).
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