There’s no shortage of athletes who have fallen from grace. Lance Armstrong now finds his name on a list that includes people like Marion Jones and Mark McGwire.
Once thought of as kings and queens of their sport, now viewed as just a bunch of dopers.
Sure, I bought into the whole Lance Armstrong phenomenon. I bought tons of those yellow Livestrong bracelets and have rocked one to almost every race I’ve ever run (and on those days when I was simply having a bad day).
I participated in special Nike-sponsored runs where tons of pavement pounders clad in yellow took to the streets of NYC with Lance at the helm. I even donated money to his charity as a way of securing entry into the NYC half marathon in 2010.
So yeah, I’m a bit annoyed. While not an avid cycling fan, I did admire how he battled his way back from cancer to athletic stardom. Eh, it turns out not so much–at least not according to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
I liken Armstrong to so-called journalistic prodigy Jayson Blair who tuned out to be nothing more than a plagiarist.
They both painted a picture of something that wasn’t their own. Sad, but not a tragedy. The real tragedy here, in my opinion, is what will become of the Livestrong Foundation. Scandal aside, Armstrong has raised a tremendous amount of money in the global fight against cancer. But now people want their money back. They feel they have made donations based on a lie.
27/10/2012 : By Rozalynn S. Frazier / Health News.
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