October 11, 2012 6:46 AM

Lance Armstrong: The truth is what it is, and in the end everyone loses

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency laid out its voluminous doping case against Lance Armstrong on Wednesday, publicly releasing a 1,000-page report that included affidavits from 11 of his former teammates, some close friends, who confessed to knowingly and secretively using performance-enhancing substances that helped them compete at the highest levels of international cycling. The report, which included affidavits, emails and financial records and stretched back 17 years, was released in support of USADA’s decision in August to strip Armstrong of his competitive results dating back to 1998 and ban him from competing in any Olympic-sanctioned sport for the rest of his life.

For years, I’ve believed Lance Armstrong’s protestations. I’ve believed that he worked long and hard in order to win seven consecutive Tour de France titles. He passed hundreds of drug tests during his career without coming up positive once. The available evidence simply didn’t support the contention that he cheated by using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). Armstrong consistently maintained that he’d never used PEDs at any time during his career, and I believed him. Until someone provided clear and convincing evidence of his guilt, I felt honor-bound to give him the benefit of the doubt and believe that he was innocent until proven otherwise.

Today I find myself conflicted and disappointed. The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has released the information it collected to build its case against Armstrong, and it would seem that the presumption of Armstrong’s innocence may be crumbling under the sheer weight of the evidence. Eleven former teammates testified to their (and Armstrong’s) use of PEDs in order to compete at cycling’s highest level.

“The evidence shows beyond any doubt that the U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team ran the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen,” USADA chief executive officer Travis Tygart said.

“Together these different categories of eyewitness, documentary, first-hand, scientific, direct and circumstantial evidence reveal conclusive and undeniable proof that brings to the light of day for the first time this systemic, sustained and highly professionalized team-run doping conspiracy.”

I find myself trying to square my belief in Armstrong with the preponderance of evidence against him. My admiration for an athlete who won cycling’s toughest test seven times in a row (and passed hundreds of drug tests along the way) has run up against USADA’s extensive case against him. Affidavits from eleven former teammates, and the statements of six teammates who described a systematic doping program, will make it difficult for Armstrong to credibly continue proclaiming his innocence. As much as I want to continue giving him the benefit of the doubt, the evidence against him seems substantial and difficult to impeach.

There’s no doubt that Armstrong is a phenomenally talented athlete, but the evidence would seem to indicate that he’s also a cheater. I’m disappointed, but, given the state of cycling today, certainly not surprised. It’s just one more instance of cheaters prospering. Armstrong may not have his Tour de France title, but he still has the fortune he amassed from his cycling career, and that’s out of the reach of USADA. Meanwhile, those of us who believed in him and his insistence on his innocence are left to wonder what to think.

Whatever the end result of this process, I hope that Armstrong’s downfall won’t adversely impact his LIVESTRONG Foundation. Regardless of what you might think about Armstrong, the work he’s done to fight cancer is laudable and should be viewed separately from the cheating that evidently contributed to his cycling success. He’s done a lot of good work to fight the disease he beat, and that deserves to be viewed on its own merits.

I’m just glad I’m not a parent facing the question of how to explain this to his children….

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on October 11, 2012 6:46 AM.

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