Livestrong isn’t just a word engraved into a yellow wristband anymore. It has become a way of life for those who feel helpless against the awful effects of cancer. Livestrong gives people like my mom, a breast cancer survivor, and my friend who just lost her mother to the disease, hope that maybe one day there will be a cure.
Former Professional Cyclist, Lance Armstrong, founded the Livestrong Movement in 1997 while he was sick with testicular cancer that came with a less than 50% chance of survival. According to Livestrong.org, since its inception, the Lance Armstrong Foundation has risen over $470 million for the fight against cancer, with 81% of those funds going directly to programs and services for survivors.
On Aug. 24, 2012, Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles, the bronze medal he won at the 2000 Olympic Games and all his other cycling achievements from the last 14 years. The exact date of Armstrong’s ineligibility dates back to Aug. 1, 1998 forward. These charges were put in motion by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) due to eye-witness evidence from Armstrong’s teammates from the U.S. Postal Service team and other professional cyclists who say that Armstrong has used various kinds of steroids in order to win races. Because of these charges, Armstrong has been banned completely from his beloved sport cycling as well as all other sports under jurisdiction of the Anti-Doping Code.
Armstrong retired from the world of professional cycling last year and decided not to go through with the USADA’s arbitration process to argue his case. He denies ever using performance enhancing drugs, but Armstrong has finally had enough of the USADA butting into his life.
“Today I turn the page,” said Armstrong after the USADA announced his fate. “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.”
I believe that the basis of the USADA’s accusations are faulty and unjust. My first major problem with the charge is the lack of incriminating physical evidence. Sure, there are on-the-record accounts from Armstrong’s teammates and fellow cyclists about how he doped, but people lie and say things that they don’t mean all the time. The facts are that the man has never tested positive for steroids apart from one instance where he had an approved doctors’ prescription for some after his cancer treatments. I don’t see how even the best doctors in the world could get around the countless drug tests Armstrong was required to take throughout his career. This is why I have no other choice but to believe that he is clean. Nobody is guilty until proven guilty, and without physical evidence to back up the case, there really is no case in my eyes.
The second issue I have with the whole situation is that there are so many other cyclists from the time period of Armstrong’s career that are rumored to have taken steroids too. I don’t see the USADA investigating them. I don’t see their careers being completely destroyed. It’s just not fair that Armstrong and his team are the ones getting the blunt end of the stick here while the other cyclists sit back and watch the show. Some of them now even possess Armstrong’s former Tour de France titles. That’s just wrong on so many levels. How can those cyclists even accept the titles? It’s equivalent to drinking someone else’s backwash. Disgusting.
Let’s say for a minute here that Armstrong really did do the drugs that the USADA says he did. The steroids would have only given him a 2% edge on the competition. I am completely against the use of performance enhancement drugs and it frustrates me that athletes feel compelled to use them, but I understand what the appeal is. You see, a 2% improvement in cycling could mean the difference between placing first in a race and placing one-hundredth. Which would you rather do?
Aside from how I feel about steroids and how they benefit athletes, you can’t deny that the ones who use them aren’t still amazing athletes. They are still hashing out that 98% of training, hard-work, sweat, blood and tears for the sport they love.
If you truly believe that Armstrong did take performance enhancing drugs, at least hear this one thing. Lance Armstrong is a hero. Forget the fact that he is a disgraced record breaking cyclist. His work to eliminate cancer is awe-inspiring. Don’t resent or hate him because of the USADA’s charges, Armstrong has been through too much in his life to only be known as “the guy who used steroids to win the Tour de France seven times.” Let the charity work and donations speak for themselves and think instead of the man apart from cycling, the one with a tremendous amount of love in his heart because he really does believe in a cure for cancer.
I will never believe that Armstrong deserved the USADA’s ruling to shut him out of cycling for the rest of his life. It is something that he is passionate about and it must be so crushing to never be able to take part in it again. Armstrong, from one athlete to another, I wish you the best with everything in your life and hope that one day the truth will be uncovered. I believe in
