Lance Armstrong admits to cheating.

ladyark

What really matters is that Lance knows what he has achieved in his life of cycling. He doesent need the medals to prove it. He has tested clean every time . There are more important things he is doing in his life right now than to continue to fight over this.

I dont think it is a disapointment that he is giving up the fight. At some point there is a time to say enough is enough. If people look down on him as less of an inspiration then that is their problem. I imagine the people that matter wont be so judgemental.

I will always look up to him for his hard work and dedication. If later it comes out that he truly did use those drugs....i will still look up to him for his hard work and dedication.

BSchoberg

There should be a statute of limitations - prove the charges within 3 years of the alleged offense or don't. Period. These athletes are tested after EVERY race - and anecdotal information doesn't get MORE reliable after a decade. And for God's sweet sake, do not waste MY money with Congressional Hearings! If we have another circus like the baseball steroid debate, I don't know what I'll do...

JeninBelgium

he said:
In a statement sent to the AP, Armstrong said: “Today I turn the page. I will no longer address this issue, regardless of the circumstances. I will commit myself to the work I began before ever winning a single Tour de France title: serving people and families affected by cancer, especially those in underserved communities.”

Did he cheat? I don't know. Did he ADMIT TO CHEATING? I've read nothing that suggests he has.

This!!

I live in Belgium where, for many, Eddy Merckx is a god, and even he faced doping charges- Eddy always defended Lance and, if Lance is good enough for Eddy, then he is good enough for the Belgians- one of the few places where the people are truly passionate about the sport

sometimes you simply can't win against agencies like the USADA and the amount of time and money involved may simply not be worth it considering the appeal rights are limited for the athlete

JeninBelgium

There should be a statute of limitations - prove the charges within 3 years of the alleged offense or don't. Period. These athletes are tested after EVERY race - and anecdotal information doesn't get MORE reliable after a decade. And for God's sweet sake, do not waste MY money with Congressional Hearings! If we have another circus like the baseball steroid debate, I don't know what I'll do...

this as well!

tom_olech

Why is everyone freaking out about this? It is a well known fact that most every cyclist in the Tour de France 'cheats' and uses dope...why exactly are they singling Lance Armstrong out when cheating is actually the norm?

RideaYeti

I'm actually kind of pissed that my (and your) tax dollars have been spend on this. I am also pissed that the USADA exists at all. I do not think we should be paying so beaurocratic blowhards money to pretend they are the governing body of all sports. Like one poster said, them stripping his titles is like me saying I'm stripping their titles.

This is from the USADA's web site: "The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) is the national anti-doping organization for the Olympic movement in the United States. The U.S. Congress recognized USADA as "the official anti-doping agency for Olympic, Pan American and Paralympic sport in the United States."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the last time I checked the Tour de France is not part of the Olympics.

Shadowsan

I'm actually kind of pissed that my (and your) tax dollars have been spend on this. I am also pissed that the USADA exists at all. I do not think we should be paying so beaurocratic blowhards money to pretend they are the governing body of all sports. Like one poster said, them stripping his titles is like me saying I'm stripping their titles.

This is from the USADA's web site: "The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) is the national anti-doping organization for the Olympic movement in the United States. The U.S. Congress recognized USADA as "the official anti-doping agency for Olympic, Pan American and Paralympic sport in the United States."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the last time I checked the Tour de France is not part of the Olympics.

Not only this, but the US olympic committee advocate training methods that produce the same physiological response as blood doping anyway.

My point is, sport is not a level playing field. And never will be. People will always find methods of improving their performance - the question is at which point do you say it's not fair? People claiming doping etc is a pointless exercise because even if someone claims it, who is to say that someone else isn't working their way around the rules regardless WITHOUT doping?

run4yourlife

so if he's innocent hes going to let them strip him of everything he's won? nobody would do that. nobody would give you their legacy.

Why not? I'm not saying he's guilty OR innocent. I don't know that. But sometimes, just as he said....

There comes a point in every man’s life when he has to say, ‘Enough is enough.’ For me, that time is now,” Armstrong said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. He called the USADA investigation an “unconstitutional witch hunt.”

“I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999,” he said. “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.”

If you've never been in another person's shoes, you don't know how something would affect you. Sometimes walking away from your fame, your pride, your ego, money, even what you may very well have earned and been awarded isn't worth the heartache and hardship on your relationships or your sanity. If he's innocent, yet accused, the repercusions could be far worse for him than if he hadn't just walked away from all this. I'm not saying he's doing the right thing, or the wrong thing. But what I am saying is, let the man make his own choices.

usc2626

It's been nothing but a witch hunt from the day he made his come back from cancer and won his first title. If an athlete passes any required drug test (which he did MANY times) in any sport that's where it should end period! To me the whole sport of cycling will never be able to lose the image of cheaters. Everyone that wins the tour will always be looked at or at least be thought of as a possible cheater. The cycling organization is just adding fuel to that fire by taking these allegations to the extent they have in my mind.

dalexander82

he said:
In a statement sent to the AP, Armstrong said: “Today I turn the page. I will no longer address this issue, regardless of the circumstances. I will commit myself to the work I began before ever winning a single Tour de France title: serving people and families affected by cancer, especially those in underserved communities.”

Did he cheat? I don't know. Did he ADMIT TO CHEATING? I've read nothing that suggests he has.

^This.

^ I agree!

TheRoadDog

He DID NOT admit to cheating.

Personally, I could care less. We want our athletes to be bigger, stronger and faster. We put the pressure on them to be bigger , stronger and faster and then condemn them when they succumb to that pressure and enhance their performance.

Let's dig up Lou Gehrig and see if he has any performance enhancing drugs in his body.

It's old news. Drop it. Come up with more accurate testing for the future.

gshoemaker06

so if he's innocent hes going to let them strip him of everything he's won? nobody would do that. nobody would give you their legacy.

He's been fighting this for years. It's gone nowhere. He's never tested positive.

sherisse69

From what i heard this morning - he is done dealing with these accusations and putting his family through it as well. It doesn't say guilt. We could never understand the pressure and harassment of allegations like these for someone in the spotlight.

Regardless, one way or the other, there was no confession of guilt - so agreed, the heading is not accurate, it is your assumption of the currents new.

HisPathDaily

blakeym

Hard to believe the anti doping agency would "create" their findings in order to strip him of his titles, which it looks like they will soon. I'd like to believe Lance, but I don't.

The Europeans have been accusing him of doping since his third win. Did we not all look at that and think, wow, can this be real....seven tour wins, is that even possible?

After watching him for all these years I'm saddened that yet another American sportsman has been brought down.

When the needle is going in, don't you have to ask yourself "If get caught doing this, will the blow back be worth it"?

And for the foundation he created, all the people that believed in him and followed him and supported him, his teammates throughout the years, all lied to.

For each race he won doping, a clean rider was denied a win, and that plain wrong in my book.

HappyStack

so if he's innocent hes going to let them strip him of everything he's won? nobody would do that. nobody would give you their legacy.

The USADA don't have the power to strip him of any titles won outside of the US. The titles he's made his name on; the Tour de France, can only be taken from him by the UCI, who have actually given him support in fighting the doping claims made by the USADA.

Basically, he's not giving up any of his legacy by not continuing to fight the allegations. However, if he was indeed doping (which seems impossible to prove so many years after the fact) then the UCI would take the appropriate action.

Metiscus

It is pretty obvious that someone has an axe to grind against Lance. Based on the public evidence, Lance passed every drug test he was ever given. Until the USADA publishes some data to the contrary, I'll have to side with Lance. To say that because Lance has given up the fight, he has admitted to doping is absolute malarkey. In any civilized legal system, you are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Moreover, in the United States, you have a right to say nothing. The burden is _ALWAYS_ on the _PROSECUTOR_ not the accused to prove guilt. Of course in this case it is not a legal proceeding governed by those rules, but the spirit of our laws should still apply.

Rozlynmac

Lance Armstong's Statement of August 23, 2012


AUSTIN, Texas - August 23rd, 2012 - There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, "Enough is enough." For me, that time is now. I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999. Over the past three years, I have been subjected to a two-year federal criminal investigation followed by Travis Tygart's unconstitutional witch hunt. 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.

I had hoped that a federal court would stop USADA’s charade. Although the court was sympathetic to my concerns and recognized the many improprieties and deficiencies in USADA’s motives, its conduct, and its process, the court ultimately decided that it could not intervene.

If I thought for one moment that by participating in USADA’s process, I could confront these allegations in a fair setting and – once and for all – put these charges to rest, I would jump at the chance. But I refuse to participate in a process that is so one-sided and unfair. Regardless of what Travis Tygart says, there is zero physical evidence to support his outlandish and heinous claims. The only physical evidence here is the hundreds of controls I have passed with flying colors. I made myself available around the clock and around the world. In-competition. Out of competition. Blood. Urine. Whatever they asked for I provided. What is the point of all this testing if, in the end, USADA will not stand by it?

From the beginning, however, this investigation has not been about learning the truth or cleaning up cycling, but about punishing me at all costs. I am a retired cyclist, yet USADA has lodged charges over 17 years old despite its own 8-year limitation. As respected organizations such as UCI and USA Cycling have made clear, USADA lacks jurisdiction even to bring these charges. The international bodies governing cycling have ordered USADA to stop, have given notice that no one should participate in USADA’s improper proceedings, and have made it clear the pronouncements by USADA that it has banned people for life or stripped them of their accomplishments are made without authority. And as many others, including USADA’s own arbitrators, have found, there is nothing even remotely fair about its process. USADA has broken the law, turned its back on its own rules, and stiff-armed those who have tried to persuade USADA to honor its obligations. At every turn, USADA has played the role of a bully, threatening everyone in its way and challenging the good faith of anyone who questions its motives or its methods, all at U.S. taxpayers’ expense. For the last two months, USADA has endlessly repeated the mantra that there should be a single set of rules, applicable to all, but they have arrogantly refused to practice what they preach. On top of all that, USADA has allegedly made deals with other riders that circumvent their own rules as long as they said I cheated. Many of those riders continue to race today.

The bottom line is I played by the rules that were put in place by the UCI, WADA and USADA when I raced. The idea that athletes can be convicted today without positive A and B samples, under the same rules and procedures that apply to athletes with positive tests, perverts the system and creates a process where any begrudged ex-teammate can open a USADA case out of spite or for personal gain or a cheating cyclist can cut a sweetheart deal for themselves. It’s an unfair approach, applied selectively, in opposition to all the rules. It’s just not right.

USADA cannot assert control of a professional international sport and attempt to strip my seven Tour de France titles. I know who won those seven Tours, my teammates know who won those seven Tours, and everyone I competed against knows who won those seven Tours. We all raced together. For three weeks over the same roads, the same mountains, and against all the weather and elements that we had to confront. There were no shortcuts, there was no special treatment. The same courses, the same rules. The toughest event in the world where the strongest man wins. Nobody can ever change that. Especially not Travis Tygart.

Today I turn the page. I will no longer address this issue, regardless of the circumstances. I will commit myself to the work I began before ever winning a single Tour de France title: serving people and families affected by cancer, especially those in underserved communities. This October, my Foundation will celebrate 15 years of service to cancer survivors and the milestone of raising nearly $500 million. We have a lot of work to do and I'm looking forward to an end to this pointless distraction. I have a responsibility to all those who have stepped forward to devote their time and energy to the cancer cause. I will not stop fighting for that mission. Going forward, I am going to devote myself to raising my five beautiful (and energetic) kids, fighting cancer, and attempting to be the fittest 40-year old on the planet.

Good on him. I believe him. Always have & always will.

Schraudt814

I'm sorry but him stating that he's tired of fighting these accusations after THIRTEEN years is not an admission of guilt. I dont know if he cheated or not. But these people have been after him for over a decade....I don't blame him even at the risk of losing his titles for saying I can't fight a losing battle anymore. It has to take a huge emotional and mental toll.

rchupka87

He was tested after every race. He always tested clean. The "Anti's" don't believe the tests? Sounds like a witch hunt to me. Where is the evidence? Present it. Get it over with. Shouldn't take forever. He has another life now and wants to get on with it. He knows he won the races and didn't or did use drugs. There are more important battles to fight these days.

Agreed. He passed between 500 and 600 tests. This is an absolute witchhunt. I don't blame him for giving up. He has been fighting accusations for 12 years. If he was under suspicion in 2000 for doping - why then would the let him continue to compete? Oh, that's right. Because he passed every. single. drug. test. The USADA says they have blood samples from 2009 and 2010 that prove he was doping? Really? Then why would you allow him to compete that year, then bring up your evidence 3 years later? Why didn't you disqualify him THEN? Oh, that's right. Because he passed every. single. drug. test. You are going to take away his Bronze medal from the Olympics? Why? He PASSED the drug tests! We all saw that this year when the American Judo Olympian was kicked out because HIS drug test came back positive. If you pass, you compete. If you fail - you are kicked out. It's so shocking to believe that he could win 7 years in a row? Why? Michael Phelps was just declared the most decorated olympian in history! He's not just better than any other swimmer. He is better than any other athlete in the history of the games. Bet he was using drugs too. What about the American Womens Sand Volleyball players? Misty May and Kerri Walsh? They have NEVER been beaten in the Olympics. NEVER. Are they on drugs too?

I guess now, if you are good at what you do, and you actually win - then you MUST be on drugs. NO ONE can win without drugs. SMDH