By Skye Tulio
Sports Assignment Editor
It seems like not a day goes by without a new scandal coming out of the woodwork in the world of professional sports centered around performance-enhancing drugs.
It’s discouraging to think some of our most beloved athletes turn out to be frauds in the truest form of the word. These are individuals we’ve idolized and rooted for who carelessly throw their careers and lives away just to cheat. Nothing good comes out of this degree of deception both for the athlete and the sport itself.
The more recent doping case to hit the mainstream media is Lance Armstrong and the fate of his cycling legacy. At the moment, his career and namesake are crumbling before his eyes. Everything he has ever worked for is being questioned as fraudulent.
On Monday, the International Cycling Union (UCI) officially stripped Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles after a report released by the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s (USADA) report revealed new evidence of drug use against the famed cyclist, according to a Oct. 22. Times article.
The report detailed allegations of doping by Armstrong and his team during his seven consecutive Tour de France wins from 1999 to 2005. The document contains testimony from 26 witnesses including 11 of Armstrong’s former teammates. As a result the USADA banned Armstrong from the sport of cycling for life and ordered the past 14 years of his career results, including the Tour titles, be completely expunged from the records.
All of this … for what? The short-term benefits are definitely not worth the long-term consequences. Losing everything, facing public humiliation and tainting your reputation for life sounds like a whole lot of misery wrapped up in one package.
A man once identified as a hero to the American people, will now be recognized for being a cheater. He had so much to lose in the process and yet still continued down this path of destruction. This is a man who beat the odds against life-threatening testicular cancer, won one of the hardest professional bike races in the world and successfully created the Livestrong Foundation, a cancer awareness charity.
It’s hard to ignore the substantial evidence stacked against him and his public refusal to comment further on the USADA’s findings, making him look even guiltier.
However corrupt Armstrong’s career may be (the odds are looking pretty grim), this should have no effect on the Livestrong foundation’s ability to raise awareness for cancer.
In the midst of all the drama, Armstrong made one commendable decision — deciding to step down as chairman of the foundation so as not to taint its image in addition to his own.
Armstrong should be held accountable for his actions at all costs, but don’t drag the millions of people living with cancer down with him.
Nike, one of Armstrong’s main sponsors, recently dropped the cyclist, stating it does not condone the use of performance-enhancing drugs in any matter. Yet, the popular brand will continue to support the charity despite the controversy surrounding its founder.
That’s the way it should be. Livestrong deserves to thrive and continue to be successful without fear of persecution from those against Armstrong’s actions on the bike.
Although there is no excuse for cheating, if anything can be salvaged from Armstrong’s career, it’s his creation of Livestrong inspired by his own battle with cancer.
The need to be the best makes people, especially professional athletes, do stupid, career-ending things to achieve greatness.Punish Armstrong, not the foundation he spearheaded to keep people aware of one of the world’s deadliest diseases.
