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Cycle of cheating: One of the greatest athletes is now a great fraud
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The evidence compiled by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency on Lance Armstrong is comprehensive and overwhelming. Consequently, the International Cycling Union won't appeal the agency's ruling stripping him of his seven Tour de France titles.
Mr. Armstrong's fall from Olympian heights is breathtaking. There was a time when he was described as the greatest athlete in the world. Now he stands revealed as the biggest fraud in sports in the last half-century.
He resigned from the chairmanship of Livestrong, the cancer research foundation he represents, citing the scandal as a distraction that threatens the charity's good work. Meanwhile, longtime sponsors Nike, Trek and Oakley severed ties with the disgraced cyclist, ensuring that his days as a cycling pitchman are over. There may also be an attempt to retrieve much of the money Mr. Armstrong won as a Tour de France champion.
Yet Mr. Armstrong maintains that those who competed against him know that he beat them fair and square. For their part, Mr. Armstrong's former teammates have cooperated with investigators by providing testimony that the testicular cancer survivor routinely used performance-enhancing drugs to win his races.
Mr. Armstrong has little or no credibility left, but he refuses to apologize to the sport he claimed to have loved or the public that unwittingly cheered on cycling's biggest cheater.
First Published October 26, 2012 12:00 am
