Lance Armstrong's Dope Shame

Ever since he decided not to contest the dope taint complaint in August last year, it became clear that cyclist Lance Armstrong had many skeletons in his closet. But even then many of his loyalists had felt that the guy has been unfairly hounded by authorities for too long and he was fed up. After all the seven-time Tour de France winner was never officially caught for doping, though allegations shadowed him all along.

Finally he admitted to taking performance enhancing drugs and that too in America's most visible confessional chamber - The Oprah Winfrey show. In the first part of the interview he admitted taking drugs to win all the Tour de France titles and called himself a 'flawed character'. To many of his admirers, especially those battling cancer and see him as role model, it was a moment of deep disillusionment. Whatever residual hope they may have had about his innocence got snuffed out.

In his overriding ambition to script a perfect American dream myth, he won the first battle - against testicular cancer - quite honourably, but took recourse to a venal path to win the most punishing event in the modern sporting arena. Tour de France participants have to pedal a distance of 3,497 kilometres covering stretches of Italy and Switzerland, in addition to France. The route passes through mountainous stretches of Pyrenees and Alps.

The seven-time winner admitted that his illustrious feat would have been humanly impossible without doping and he did not ‘invent’ that culture. One cannot dispute him as the Tour is scarred by a long list of dope cheats and the recent ones include Tour winners such as Armstrong's compatriot Floyd Landis (2006) and Spaniard Alberto Contador (2010). But they all got punished, whereas this guy all through these years managed to take doping authorities and his hero-worshipping fans for a ride. And even now his so called confession looks more like a selective leak. He argument is based on the premise that since everyone was doing it, there was nothing wrong in what he did.

Quite predictably it created a commotion in the sporting world. 'Djoker' Novak Djokovic, more known for his horseplay on tennis court, was perhaps the most vociferous in his comments and wanted all of Armstrong's titles taken away and added that he should suffer for his lies. Former basketball legend Magic Johnson lamented that Armstrong has let down the sport and fans, but commended him for 'couragesouly coming forward' to admit his guilt.

Perhaps the person who ought to feel the most vindicated was David Walsh, chief sports writer for Britain's The Sunday Times, who has been pursuing Armstrong ever since he won his first Tour in 1999. He reportedly sat glued to television, though the interview was telecast in Britain at 2 am.

Walsh lauded the witnesses he spoke to in his years of investigation into Armstrong and who were vilified for telling the truth. The newspaper also stood by Walsh all these years. 

Armstrong had sued The Sunday Times and in 2006 the newspaper settled the case for more than $500,000 after spending more than $1 million in legal fees. They quite rightly now want the money back - with interest.

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Did He or Didn't He

He was the embodiment of 21st century version of American dream. His battle with near fatal testicular cancer and later unprecedented success in the gruelling Tour de France was the stuff legends were made of. 

Overcoming cancer and then winning (that too seven times) probably the most punishing activity in the modern sporting arena was really something. Participants in Tour have to pedal a distance of 3,497 kilometres covering stretches of Italy and Switzerland, in addition to France. The route passes through mountainous stretches of Pyrenees and Alps. However, its history is badly scarred with drug taint and numerous ex-champs were stripped off their titles after testing positive for some banned substance.

All through Armstrong's post-cancer career, allegations of doping kept following him like a shadow. In 1999 his urine sample showed traces of corticosteroid in an amount that was not in the positive range. A medical certificate showed he used an approved cream for saddle sores which contained the substance. That was probably the closest he came officially to the doping taint. But there were always a legion of sceptics, who believed that he was not clean; in fact, he was too smart to get caught.

But what he did on August 24 took everyone, including his detractors, off guard. He announced that he is not going to contest the doping charges as he felt the US anti-doping agency was indulging in "witch hunt". It drew extreme reactions. While his supporters and cancer organisations felt he should not have thrown in the towel, his detractors felt vindicated.

Though Armstrong is probably the most tested athlete and has never failed in any test, barring the 1999 aberration, his reputation has always been under cloud. It took further beating when fellow US cyclist Floyd Landis, who himself got disqualified in a drug test, said Armstrong used performance enhancing drugs and even taught others how not to get caught.

Unfortunately the world of doping is very complex. While knave dopers like Ben Johnson get caught immediately, there are some who trip after years like Marion Jones. Even Florence Griffith Joyner died amid innuendos of doping. The reason is that drug cheats are always a step ahead of anti-doping agencies. They  take drugs that are not under the lens of these agencies and go scot-free. By the time doping agencies device a test for that particular drug, they move on to new ones. Some even go for blood transfusion to avoid detection.

As a counter measure the doping agencies keep samples for longer periods, so that they can be later tested for newer drugs. And it did succeed in bringing many to book.

All this is not to cast aspersion on Lance Armstrong, but he should have fought on if he were clean. By refusing to do so he has provided a handle to sceptics. He had previously won an indomitable battle against cancer and these allegations are nothing compared to that.

Also Read: Bangalore Beat