(The Wallstreet Journal) Former professional cyclist Lance Armstrong told the world Thursday
evening that he used performance-enhancing drugs to win seven Tour de
France titles.
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey,
Mr. Armstrong said that like many other cyclists of his generation, he
used EPO, human-growth hormone, testosterone and other drugs to compete.
"I'm a flawed character," Mr. Armstrong said during the hour-and-a-half
program. "I viewed this situation as one big lie that I repeated a lot
of times."
The taped show, which was broadcast on the Oprah Winfrey Network and on the Internet, marked the end of a dozen years of strident denials from the 41-year-old Mr. Armstrong, who faced several doping scandals during his career but had, until last summer, escaped punishment from antidoping authorities.
Looking tentative and anxious at times, Mr. Armstrong, who wore a blue
sport coat and a lavender button-down shirt, said doping was so
prevalent in professional cycling from the early 1990s to 2005, that
saying they needed to take banned substances was like "saying we have to
have air in our tires and we have to have water in our bottles."
Mr. Armstrong admitted, without hesitation and at the top of the 90-minute show, to his own use of drugs and blood transfusions, but shied away from significant details and didn't provide specifics about the involvement of riders, team managers and doctors in his team's doping program.
For many cycling fans and observers of Mr. Armstrong, their biggest criticism of the fallen champion hasn't been his doping, but his persistent attacks of those who spoke the truth about doping or chose not to participate in doping. In the interview, Mr. Armstrong repeatedly denied he ever pressured riders on his team to use drugs or gave them ultimatums to do so. He did say it would be fair to describe him as a "bully" who helped perpetuate the atmosphere of doping on the team.
Mr. Armstrong's decision to come clean follows a saga that began in May, 2010, when he was accused of doping by his former teammate, Floyd Landis. Mr. Landis's accusations, which were sent by email to a small group of cycling officials, were first made public by The Wall Street Journal.
Read more article here.
The taped show, which was broadcast on the Oprah Winfrey Network and on the Internet, marked the end of a dozen years of strident denials from the 41-year-old Mr. Armstrong, who faced several doping scandals during his career but had, until last summer, escaped punishment from antidoping authorities.
Mr. Armstrong admitted, without hesitation and at the top of the 90-minute show, to his own use of drugs and blood transfusions, but shied away from significant details and didn't provide specifics about the involvement of riders, team managers and doctors in his team's doping program.
For many cycling fans and observers of Mr. Armstrong, their biggest criticism of the fallen champion hasn't been his doping, but his persistent attacks of those who spoke the truth about doping or chose not to participate in doping. In the interview, Mr. Armstrong repeatedly denied he ever pressured riders on his team to use drugs or gave them ultimatums to do so. He did say it would be fair to describe him as a "bully" who helped perpetuate the atmosphere of doping on the team.
Mr. Armstrong's decision to come clean follows a saga that began in May, 2010, when he was accused of doping by his former teammate, Floyd Landis. Mr. Landis's accusations, which were sent by email to a small group of cycling officials, were first made public by The Wall Street Journal.
Read more article here.
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