After years of bitter and forceful denials, the Associated Press reports that Lance Armstrong offered a simple “I’m sorry” to friends and colleagues and then admitted he used performance-enhancing drugs during an extraordinary cycling career that included seven Tour de France victories.
Seven-time Tour De France winner Lance Armstrong admitted to using
performance enhancing drugs in an interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Armstrong confessed to doping during an interview with Oprah Winfrey taped Monday, just a few hours after an emotional apology to the staff at the Livestrong charity he founded and was later forced to surrender, a person familiar with the situation told the AP. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the interview is to be broadcast Thursday on Winfrey’s network.
Students at the University of Wyoming have found themselves upset over the ordeal.
“As a former athlete I found this issue about Lance doping to be extremely disappointing,” Lizzie Kinney, a nursing student at UW, said.
“Just to know that his success came from abusing performance enhancing drugs makes you wonder about all professional athletes today. Everyone is capable of doping. But it’s sad to know that those who competed against Lance Armstrong in the past taking second or third actually deserved a higher place. For them it was natural talent, for Armstrong, it was steroids,” she said.
“I looked up to Lance for having such an incredible career given the struggles he’s gone through. I am disappointed in what he did but I still think he’s a remarkable man,” Caitlin Jenkins, also a nursing student, said.
However, some students disagree with the extent of Armstrong’s punishment.
“It’s been a little overdone. They’ve already taken his medals and have damaged his reputation. It almost feels like the media has gone too far just because they need to make a good story,” Ricky Tabuchi, a business major said.
The AP reports Armstrong is said to be worth about $100 million. But most sponsors dropped him after USADA’s scathing report at the cost of tens of millions of dollars and soon after, he left the board of Livestrong.
After the USADA findings, he was also barred from competing in the elite triathlon or running events he participated in after his cycling career. World Anti-Doping Code rules state his lifetime ban cannot be reduced to less than eight years. WADA and U.S. Anti-Doping officials could agree to reduce the ban further depending on what information Armstrong provides and his level of cooperation, according to the AP.
