The witch hunt continues to discredit one of the last great American sports role models. The world has two different perceptions of Lance Armstrong, to one side of the world he is the greatest cyclist ever and to the other side of the world battling the unstoppable force of cancer. He is hope, motivation and faith through hard work and never giving up you can beat anything. He has done more post cancer than most people will do their whole lives. He is an inspiration to every cancer patient and there is no one else that fights for the rights of cancer research like Armstrong. Through the Lance Armstrong Foundation for Cancer Research, he has raised more than 325 million with the sale of the live strong bracelets. He has campaigned for cancer patients and cancer research by going as far to lobby in front of Congress. He was quoted as saying in sports illustrated that he “should run for office, the president of the cancer fighters union of the world.” The discussion was about politics and if he would be a good fit for that. I think every cancer patient believes there is no one man more important to cancer research than Armstrong. In 2006 Armstrong ran the New York City Marathon to raise more than 600,000 for cancer research through his live strong campaign. There are 7 books about Armstrong that are about his inspiration and through hard work and dedication you can conquer anything. In 2007 with other athletes he started the Athletes for Hope, a charity which helps athletes get involved in charitable causes and inspires non-athletes to get involved in the community. In August 2009, Armstrong headlined an inaugural charity ride “Pelotonia” in Columbus Ohio, riding over a 100 miles to raise 1 million in cancer research. Sports Illustrated is running a story on a Federal Grand Jury inquiry into if Armstrong and his team used performance enhancing drugs while on the tour and says that if the inquiry shows that his team used drugs it would be “the saddest deception in sports history.” With the story that sports illustrated is running and the eventual media coverage it will receive, let’s take a second look at Armstrong’s career and everything he has accomplished and all the previous allegations against him.

Armstrong’s Career Achievements and Alleged doping controversies.

  • 1987, Competing as an amateur his point totals were higher than 5 professional cyclists.

  • 1989-1990, Armstrong became a professional cyclist at the age of 16 and won the sprint course triathlon in 89-90 at the age of 18 and 19.

  • 1991, Armstrong won his first US amateur championship.

  • 1992, Armstrong finished 14th in the 1992 summer Olympics.

  • 1993, Armstrong won the UCI Road World Championship which was held in pouring rain that year in Norway.

  • 1993, Armstrong won the Thrift Drug Triple Crown of cycling which consists of three races in Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Philadelphia. Thrift drug previously said they would award 1 million dollars to the winner that could win all three races something that was previously unachieved. On the final lap Armstrong sat up on his bike and pulled out a comb and smiled for the cameras.

  • 1994, Armstrong won the Thrift Drug Classic for a second time.

  • 1994, Placed second in the Tour DuPont.

  • 1994, Armstrong placed second in the Clasica de San Sebastian and the Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

  • *1994, Armstrong won the stage Limoges on the Tour De France and dedicated the win to teammate Fabio Casartelli who had died previously on the descent from Col de Portet d Aspect which is the 15th stage on the tour. After the win Armstrong was quoted as saying “I raced with the strength of two men today.” *

  • 1995, Armstrong won the Clasica de San Sebastian.

  • 1995, Armstrong won the Tour DuPont.

  • 1996, Became the first American to win the La Fleche Wallonne.

  • 1996, won the Tour DuPont for a second time.

  • 1996, was only able to compete for 5 days in the Tour de France for sickness reasons.

  • 1996, Armstrong could only finish 6th in the time trial and 12th in the road race at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

  • 1996, Armstrong was diagnosed with stage three testicular cancer and the cancer had spread to his lungs, abdomen and brain.

  • 1996, Armstrong made the choice to have an alternate chemotherapeutic treatment of Etoposide, Ifosfamide and Cisplatin to avoid the lung toxicity associated with the drug Bleomyein. The decision saved his racing career.

  • *1998, with cancer completely in remission Armstrong began training for serious racing and moved to Europe to race for the US Postal team. *

  • 1998, Armstrong finished 4th in the Vuelta a Espana.

  • 1999, Armstrong won the Tour de France by 7 minutes and 37 seconds.

  • 1999, a urine test shows traces of corticosteroid but not enough for a positive test. Armstrong had a medical certificate that showed he was approved to use a cream for saddle sores that has corticosteroid in it.

  • 1999, retired cyclist Greg Lemon alleges cheating by Armstrong while racing.

  • 1999, Armstrong has disagreements with outspoken opponents of doping, Paul Kimmage and Christopher Bassons, at the Tour de France. One incident between Armstrong and Bassons was Armstrong rode up alongside the stage yell at him “It was a mistake to speak out the way you do and asked why he was doing it.” Basson replied “I’m thinking of the next generation of riders” and Armstrong replied “Why don’t you leave then.” Paul Kimmage who was a retired pro cyclist and later a sports journalist said that Armstrong was a “cancer in cycling.”

  • 1999, Armstrong was named ABC Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year.

  • 2000, Armstrong won the Tour de France by 6 minutes 2 seconds and won the Prince of Asturias award.

  • 2001, won the Tour de France by 6 minutes and 44 seconds.

  • 2002, Armstrong won the Tour de France by 7 minutes and was named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the year and the Associated press Male Athlete of the year.

  • 2003, won the Tour de France by 1 minute and 1 second and won ESPN’s Espy for Male Athlete of the Year.

  • 2003, won BBC Sports personality of the year overseas personality award.

  • 2004, won the Tour de France by 6 minutes and 19 seconds and won ESPN’s Espy for Male Athlete of the Year for a second time.

  • 2004, Armstrong was criticized for working with controversial trainer Michael Ferrari. Upon hearing of the two working together, Greg Lemond was devastated to hear the news of the two working together. Micheal Ferrari was charged with “sporting fraud” and “abuse of the medical profession.” Armstrong cut ties with Ferrari saying that “he had no tolerance for anyone convicted of using or facilitating the use of performance enhancing drugs.” Ferrari was later absolved of all charges by an Italian appeals court for lack of evidence.

  • 2004, reporters Pierre Ballester and David Walsh publish a book alleging doping by Armstrong. There are allegations from a former masseuse that claims Armstrong asked her to dispose of syringes and to give him make-up to conceal needle marks. Steve Swart, a former rider, claimed he and other riders began doping in 1995.

  • 2005, Armstrong won the Tour de France by 4 minutes and 40 seconds and was named ESPN’s Espy Male Athlete of the Year for the 3rd year in a row.

  • 2005, on March 31 a former employee Mike Anderson files a suit in Travis County District Court in Texas against Armstrong. Anderson claims he found a box of Androstenone in the bathroom of Armstrong’s apartment in Spain. Even though Androstenone wasn’t a banned substance Anderson says he has no knowledge of Armstrong doping. Armstrong counter sued and they both settled out of court.

  • 2005, on August 23 L’ Equipe, a major French daily sports newspaper, reported that 6 frozen and stored urine samples from the 1999 Tour de France that tested positive for erythropoietin. The paper even admitted in the same article that the science in question is faulty. Armstrong replied “that he had no way of defending himself” and the paper stated that “ there would be no counter exam nor regulatory prosecution because the defendant’s rights cannot be respected.” Armstrong has stated what he has always said “I have never taken performance enhancing drugs” and the allegations were quickly dismissed.

  • 2005, Armstrong officially announced his retirement from professional cycling.

  • 2006, Armstrong won ESPN’s Espy for Best Male Athlete of the Year for the 4th time in a row.

  • 2006, In June a French newspaper Le Monde reported claims by Betsy and Frankie Andreu that during a deposition that Armstrong admitted to using performance enhancing drugs to his doctor after brain surgery in 1996. Armstrong at the time was involved with a legal litigation with SCA promotions for withholding a 5 million dollar bonus. The case was eventually settled out of court but the testimony was still being reviewed. The testimony states that “ the doctor asked Armstrong a couple of questions but when the doctor asked about steroids Armstrong replied, that he took growth hormone, cortisone, EPO, steroids and testosterone.” The allegations were quickly dismissed when it was not supported by any of the other eight people in the room and Armstrong’s doctor. Armstrong suggested she could be confused with his post-operative treatment that includes steroids and EPO that help stop the destroying of red blood cells during chemotherapy.

  • *2006, Greg Lemond claims to have a recorded conversation with Stephanie Mcllvain (who was Armstrong’s contact at Oakley Inc.) in which she states “you know I was in that room, I heard it.” The transcript was reviewed by National Public Radio but all allegations were quickly dismissed when Mcllvain contradicted LeMonds allegations and denied under oath that the incident never occurred in a sworn testimony. *

  • *2006, in July the Los Angeles times published a story on the allegations in the SCA promotions case. The story consists of evidence at the trial and the results of a LNDD test and analysis of these results by an expert witness. The expert (Australian researcher Michael Ashenden) testified that Armstrong‘s levels showed signs of rising and falling, consistent with a series of injections during the tour. Ashenden who was a paid expert retained by SCA promotions told arbitrators that the results painted a “compelling picture” that the world’s most famous cyclist “used EPO on the 99 tour.” Ashenden’s findings were disputed by the Vrijman report which pointed to procedural and privacy issues in dismissing the LNDD report. The LA times also wrote about testimony from Armstrong’s former teammate Swart, Andreu and his wife Betsy which also featured Instant messaging conversations between Andreu and Jonathan Vaughters regarding blood doping in the peloton. Vaughters later signed a statement disavowing the conversation ever took place and even though Andreu signed a sworn statement that the conversation did take place and was indicated on the Instant messaging logs, the allegations were quickly dismissed and the SCA case was settled out of court. The LA times did run a review of all the evidence and said “they are filled with conflicting testimony, hearsay and circumstantial evidence admissible in arbitration hearings but questionable in formal legal proceedings. *

  • 2008, in October the AFLD gave Armstrong the opportunity to have samples taken during the 1998 and 1999 Tours de France retested. Armstrong immediately refused and said “the samples have not been maintained properly.” The head of the AFLD stated that “scientifically there is no problem to analyze these samples and everything is correct to show a clean test for him and if he doesn’t want to then that’s his problem.” Emile Vrijman, a Dutch lawyer, was appointed by the UCI to head up the independent investigation on the LNDD lab reports. The Vrijman report stated that the analysis of the urine samples was conducted improperly and that they “didn’t satisfy any standard for doping control testing.” The Vrijman report also said that the handling and testing of the samples fell so short of scientific standards and that “the process that generated those results and the subsequent reports was so deficient” that it was “completely irresponsible” to suggest the results could “constitute evidence of anything.” WADA rejected the Vrijman report saying it was lacking in professionalism and bordering on farcical but the allegations were quickly dismissed and Armstrong was cleared of any wrong doing.

  • *2008, Armstrong was tested 24 unannounced times between 2008 and 2009 by various anti-doping authorities. All tests came back negative for performance enhancing drugs. *

  • 2008, announced on September 9th that he would return to pro-cycling.

  • 2008, Armstrong competed in the tour down under and finished 29th.

  • 2009, competed in the Tour de France and finished 3rd 5 minutes and 24 seconds behind the winner.

  • 2010, on May 20 former teammate Floyd Landis accused Armstrong of doping and the director of the US Postal Team John Bruyneel had bribed a former UCI President Hein Verbruggen to keep quiet about a failed drug test by Armstrong. Landis admitted there is no documentation to support these claims. In 2010 the UCI did reveal that Armstrong made two donations to the UCI,25,000in 2002 and 100,000 in 2005 to buy a blood testing machine and documentation of those payments do exist. The UCI issued a statement conflicting with Landis statements that said “none of the tests from the 2001 tour were positive for EPO and quickly dismissed Landis claims. Landis claims were considered fabricated because he said Armstrong tested positive in 2002 but Armstrong didn’t compete in 2002.

  • 2010, Armstrong made his season debut at the Tour down Under and finished 25th.

  • 2010, Armstrong made his European season debut at the Vuelta a Murcia finishing 7th overall.

  • 2010, Armstrong placed 2nd in the Tour of Switzerland.

  • 2010, Armstrong placed 3rd in the tour of Luxembourg.

  • *2010, Armstrong competed in and finished his last Tour de France in 23rd place. He finished 39 minutes and 20 seconds behind the winner.

Lance Armstrong’s career achievements are amazing and most of the things he has accomplished may never be accomplished again. There might never be another person that will ever win the Tour de France seven times in a row and be a bigger icon in racing than Lance Armstrong. There hasn’t been one person more important to their sport than Lance Armstrong. There is no denying the countless stories or allegations against Lance Armstrong and wouldn’t be fair to anybody else that came before him in the steroids scandal to just sweep it under the rug. We have all been fooled before and believed somebody when they vigorously denied using steroids, Mr. Palmerio I’m talking to you. Regardless of what comes out in the Sports Illustrated article and what happens to Lance Armstrong we should all remember Lance Armstrong not for what he accomplished in the world of cycling but for what he accomplished in the devastating world of cancer. In his time he stared something that seemed unconquerable in the eye and said you will not beat me and you won’t hurt anybody else in my lifetime if I have anything to say about it. All around the world he has touched the lives of anybody that has ever had cancer and through his foundations have given hope to people that they can live one more day. If it wasn’t for somebody like Lance Armstrong then we might not have the advances we have when it comes to dealing with cancer. He is something to look up at and say here is somebody that used his fame to better the world and you can’t say that about everybody that is famous. If you ever had a family member that has been cursed with the disease cancer, then you are grateful to Lance Armstrong for giving you the chance to spend one more day with that family member. He gives hope to everybody around the world and no matter what comes of the Grand Jury inquiry, he will always remain a hero to every cancer patient around the world.** **