Lance Armstrong

Cyclist

• Born: September 18, 1971
• Place of Birth: Plano, Texas

As a professional cyclist, Lance Armstrong was one of the most iconic athletes of the 2000s. He dominated in international competitions and, despite an ongoing fight with cancer, won seven consecutive Tour de France titles. However, he later became embroiled in a doping scandal that cost him endorsements and forced him to step down as chair of his charity, Livestrong. Armstrong was subsequently stripped of his Tour de France titles.

In the early 1990s, Lance Armstrong emerged as the US national amateur cycling champion, winning the Thrift Drug Classic and the First Union Grand Prix. By the late 1990s, he was ranked among the top ten international cyclists. He won the Tour du Pont in 1995 and again in 1996 for an unprecedented second time, while also establishing records for the fastest average time-trial speed and the largest margin of victory.

In October 1996 Armstrong was diagnosed with advanced testicular cancer. When doctors discovered that the tumors had spread to his lungs, lymph nodes, and brain, they gave him a 40 percent chance of survival. He began an aggressive regimen of chemotherapy, and after a series of successful surgical procedures, was declared cancer-free in the early weeks of 1997. Unable to remain idle in the months following his diagnosis, he created the Lance Armstrong Foundation, also known as the Livestrong Foundation, an international organization dedicated to the promotion of cancer research, awareness, and early detection.

Armstrong returned to racing in 1998, competing in a number of international events. In May of that year, he married Kristin Richard, whom he had met the previous year at a charity function for his foundation. With a new contract with the United States Postal Service Pro Cycling team, Armstrong was ready to resume his place among the world's best cyclists. He returned to the Tour de France in the summer of 1999, garnering media attention for his plans to compete in the prestigious race so soon after his ordeal with cancer. After dominating the majority of the race, Armstrong became the first American to win the event since Greg LeMond in 1990, finishing with a margin of more than seven minutes over his closest competitor.

Firmly denying the French media's accusations that he had used illegal performance-enhancing drugs to win the race, Armstrong returned the following year to a second Tour de France victory, joining LeMond as the only American to repeat as champion. In 2000, Armstrong competed at the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, earning a bronze medal for road cycling in the men's individual time trial.

Armstrong continued to make cycling history, winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times, from 1999 to 2005. In 2002, he was named "Sportsman of the Year" by Sports Illustrated magazine, and from 2002 through 2005, the Associated Press named Armstrong "Male Athlete of the Year." However, Armstrong's professional accomplishments took a toll on his personal life. He and Kristin Armstrong filed for divorce in September 2003. Following his 2005 Tour De France victory, Armstrong retired from cycling, saying he wanted to focus his efforts on the work of his charitable foundation. In 2007, he joined a large contingent of other well-known sports figures in the founding of Athletes for Hope, a nonprofit organization that coordinates and supports the philanthropic efforts of professional athletes.

In September 2008, Armstrong announced that he would return to cycling and stated that he hoped to earn another Tour de France victory in 2009. While competing in a race in Spain in March 2009, however, Armstrong fell and broke his collarbone, an injury that would eventually require surgery. Nonetheless, Armstrong would go on to compete in the 2009 Tour de France, finishing in third place. In 2010, Armstrong again competed in the Tour de France, this time on a racing team sponsored by electronics retailer RadioShack. However, his effort was thwarted by another injury after a crash, and he completed his final Tour in twenty-third place.

For years, Armstrong was dogged by accusations that he had used performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career. In June 2012, the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) formally charged Armstrong and several other members of his team with doping. At first, Armstrong denied the charges and filed a lawsuit to block the USADA's proposed punishment. When a federal judge dismissed the suit, Armstrong announced he would no longer contest the charges against him. In late August, the USADA stripped Armstrong of all competitive results from August 1998 to August 2012. Union Cycliste Internationale, the international governing body of professional cycling, quickly ratified the USADA's sanctions against Armstrong, ultimately stripping Armstrong of all his Tour de France titles and banning him from professional cycling for life. Armstrong was also later stripped of his 2000 Olympic bronze medal.

After vehemently denying all allegations for years, Armstrong admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs in an interview with television host Oprah Winfrey in early 2013. Meanwhile, he was the subject of legal actions including a lawsuit filed in 2010 and joined by the US Department of Justice accusing him of defrauding the US government by accepting sponsorship money from the US Postal Service while doping. The government sought $97 million in damages from Armstrong—three times the amount Armstrong earned while on the USPS team, and almost as much as his peak net worth of $100 million. That lawsuit was settled in 2018, with Armstrong agreeing to pay the US government $5 million and cover the legal fees of whistleblower Floyd Landis.

After keeping a relatively low profile in the years following his confession to doping, Armstrong slowly began to return to the public eye. In 2017 he debuted a podcast providing coverage and commentary on the Tour de France, which he cohosted with former professional cyclist George Hincapie and radio personality J. B. Hager. The program became very popular, even ranking as the number one sports-themed podcast in the United States during the 2019 Tour de France. That year Armstrong also made a few short appearances as an analyst on NBC's live television coverage of the Tour, which drew considerable controversy within the cycling community. In 2024, Armstrong announced that he would compete in the Enhanced Games, a competition that does not require athletes to be drug tested. Expected to take place in 2025, the Enhanced Games features track and field, swimming, weightlifting, gymnastics, and combat sports.

Impact

Armstrong's nearly unrivaled dominance during the height of his career brought him a level of international fame achieved by only a handful of athletes. He raised professional cycling's profile in the United States to unprecedented levels, and his trademark Livestrong bracelets became a ubiquitous symbol of solidarity with the fight against cancer. However, his legacy was deeply tarnished by the revelation of his doping and his prolonged denial that he cheated.

Bibliography

Albergotti, Reed, and Vanessa O'Connell. Wheelmen: Lance Armstrong, the Tour de France, and the Greatest Sports Conspiracy Ever. New York: Penguin, 2013. Print.

Bissinger, Buzz. "Winning." Newsweek 160.10 (2012): 26–33. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Oct. 2012.

Edwards, Elizabeth. "Lance Armstrong." Time 171.19 (2008): 66–67. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Oct. 2012.

Hansen, Matt. "Lance Armonstrong to Compete in Enhanced Games." Canadian Cycling Magazine, 1 Apr. 2024, cyclingmagazine.ca/sections/news/lance-armstrong-to-compete-at-enhanced-games/#. Accessed 22 May 2024.

Hart, Matt. "The Man Who Brought Down Lance Armstrong." The Atlantic, May 2018, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/05/lance-armstrong-floyd-landis/556868/. Accessed 22 May 2024.

Malach, Pat. "Tour de France: Lance Armstrong's NBC Presence Spurs Debate About His Place in Cycling." CyclingNews, 11 July 2019, www.cyclingnews.com/news/tour-de-france-lance-armstrongs-nbc-presence-spurs-debate-about-his-place-in-cycling/. Accessed 22 May 2023.

Osborne, Sue. "It's Not about the Bike: A Critique of Themes Identified in Lance Armstrong's Narrative." Urologic Nursing 29.6 (2009): 415–43. Print.

Redford, Patrick. "The Ridiculous Saga of Lance Armstrong, the Cheater Who Became an Enemy of the State." Deadspin, 20 Apr. 2018, deadspin.com/the-ridiculous-saga-of-lance-armstrong-the-cheater-who-1802288537. Accessed 22 May. 2024.