Athletes are not
different from normal human beings, but some may be even dumber when they are
in the spotlight. One of the biggest scandals was Lance Armstrong’s doping
scandal. He was the biggest jerk in the world, and was dishonest with those
close to him. He cheated himself, the sport, and his teammates. He should be
ashamed of what he had done, and should not be a role model for young children.
Lance Armstrong was an
inspiration to others as he battled cancer, and won many prestigious races, but
hid behind the truth for many years. Lance started off his career by winning
the Amateur Road National Championship race in 1991. Everyone knew that he
going to be a star, and a very influential person. He continued to win a number
of races, including the Tour DuPunt which is considered to be the biggest race
of them all. The amazing fact is that he was only twenty three years old in
1995. The following year, Lance had highs and lows. The achievements that he
gained was winning the Tour Dupont again, and going to the Olympics. His low
was when he got cancer in October, and went under a year of chemotherapy.
Everyone felt terrible for him, and his determination kept others going. No one
wants anyone to experience cancer because it is a long and hard process to get
clean. In 1997, Lance founds the Lance Armstrong Foundation, or the Livestrong
Foundation. This organization would support anything that was related to
cancer. This was yet another great accomplishment for him, and became even a
greater role model for young children to follow. He was very influential after
making this organization. His prime years came between 1999 and 2005 when he
wins seven straight Tour De France’s. This seemed very suspicious because it is
very hard to win a race seven times, yet seven times in a row. His
accomplishments served as motivation for everyone in the world. Throughout these years, he was the most famous
bicycle rider in the world, and was seen as a perfect person in the public’s
eye. In addition to him winning, he became even more popular by selling yellow
bracelets to support cancer research. During 2005, Lance retired from the sport,
and newspapers started accusing him of using EPO, a performance enhancer. At
this time, Lance was portrayed as a perfect person, even though he was the
biggest joke in the world.
Like any other athlete, Lance could not stay away from the sport, and returned to the Tour De France in 2009. This was a dumb decision because the spotlight was on him again, and his past could catch up to him. He came in third in that race, and again looked good in the public’s eye. The following year, his teammate Floyd Landis admits to doping, and accuses Lance too. Another one of his teammates, Tyler Hamilton told 60 minutes that he saw Lance take EPOs. Lance must have been a really mean and senseless person to them in order for them to say anything. In 2011, he retires for the second time, and finally gives up his spotlight. Throughout all this time, Lance has denied using EPOs or doping. He looked like a liar, and deceived everyone who supported him. Each year the allegation against Lance were dropped, but in 2012 the United States Anti-Doping Agency would not let him get away with this. This organization had 1,000 pages of evidence against Lance, and exposed his true past. The International Cycling Union got this evidence, and took everything away from Lance. This included his seven Tour DeFrance wins. The aftermath of this was horrible for Lance, and he deserved to lose everything he had supposedly worked for. He lost all of his sponsorships, and stepped away from everything he was affiliated with. On January 17, 2012 Lance finally admitted to doping with an interview with Oprah. Throughout this interview, Lance showed a lot of emotion, and acted as if he was truly sorry. No one can truly believe this because he is a cheater. Lance will always be remembered as once a cheater, always a cheater. Lance can never be seen as a good person due to his actions in his past. The character that he stood for in his prime can never be achieved again. Lance should just step away from the press, and live a normal life.
Like any other athlete, Lance could not stay away from the sport, and returned to the Tour De France in 2009. This was a dumb decision because the spotlight was on him again, and his past could catch up to him. He came in third in that race, and again looked good in the public’s eye. The following year, his teammate Floyd Landis admits to doping, and accuses Lance too. Another one of his teammates, Tyler Hamilton told 60 minutes that he saw Lance take EPOs. Lance must have been a really mean and senseless person to them in order for them to say anything. In 2011, he retires for the second time, and finally gives up his spotlight. Throughout all this time, Lance has denied using EPOs or doping. He looked like a liar, and deceived everyone who supported him. Each year the allegation against Lance were dropped, but in 2012 the United States Anti-Doping Agency would not let him get away with this. This organization had 1,000 pages of evidence against Lance, and exposed his true past. The International Cycling Union got this evidence, and took everything away from Lance. This included his seven Tour DeFrance wins. The aftermath of this was horrible for Lance, and he deserved to lose everything he had supposedly worked for. He lost all of his sponsorships, and stepped away from everything he was affiliated with. On January 17, 2012 Lance finally admitted to doping with an interview with Oprah. Throughout this interview, Lance showed a lot of emotion, and acted as if he was truly sorry. No one can truly believe this because he is a cheater. Lance will always be remembered as once a cheater, always a cheater. Lance can never be seen as a good person due to his actions in his past. The character that he stood for in his prime can never be achieved again. Lance should just step away from the press, and live a normal life.
No comments:
Post a Comment