Lance Armstrong calls it quits in fight against doping charges

[aikido]

Lance Armstrong calls it quits in fight against doping charges - CNN.com

 

 

 

CNN) -- Lance Armstrong called it quits late Thursday in his battle to end an investigation by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, a move that will most likely mean a lifetime ban for the seven-time Tour de France champion.

 

"There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, 'Enough is enough.' For me, that time is now," Armstrong said in a written statement.

 

The USADA -- a quasi-government agency recognized as the official anti-doping agency for Olympic, Pan American and Paralympic sports in the United States -- has accused Armstrong of using, possessing, trafficking and giving to others performance-enhancing drugs, as well as covering up doping violations.

 

Armstrong, who has long denied the charges, made his announcement days after losing a legal bid to halt the anti-doping agency's legal case against him, which came more than a year after his retirement from cycling and subsequent move to triathlon competitions. Armstrong, who has long denied the allegations, has described himself as the "most tested athlete in the world."

 

Although the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has not seen Armstrong's statement, its chief executive officer issued a statement following news reports that the athlete would no longer cooperate.

 

"It is a sad day for all of us who love sport and our athletic heroes. This is a heartbreaking example of how the win-at-all costs culture of sport, if left unchecked, will overtake fair, safe and honest competition, but for clean athletes, it is a reassuring reminder that there is hope for future generations to compete on a level playing field without the use of performance-enhancing drugs," CEO Travis T. Tygart said in a statement.

Lance Armstrong victim of vendetta?

2011: Armstrong teammate speaks out

 

Armstrong has never been convicted of any doping charges, though the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency alleges that he took steroids throughout his career. The agency has said it has testimony from former teammates to support the charges, though it has refused to reveal who provided the evidence.

 

Armstrong has called Tygart's investigation an "unconstitutional witch hunt."

 

"I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999. Over the past three years, I have been subjected to a two-year federal criminal investigation followed by Travis Tygart's unconstitutional witch hunt. The toll this has taken on my family, and my work for our foundation and on me leads me to where I am today -- finished with this nonsense," he said.

 

Armstrong sued the USADA to stop the investigation, arguing it did not have the right to prosecute him.

 

But a federal judge this week dismissed the lawsuit after finding that the court did not have jurisdiction.

 

"Today I turn the page. I will no longer address this issue, regardless of the circumstances," Armstrong said Thursday..

 

"I will commit myself to the work I began before ever winning a single Tour de France title: serving people and families affected by cancer, especially those in underserved communities."

[Unrighteous]

He's been tested so many times that it's just stupid to accuse him without any fucking proof.

 

Why didn't he test positive in the 34750825208 tests he gets from the tour, and such?

[Cardie]

If he's innocent why not fight it.

[Unrighteous]

If he's innocent why not fight it.

 

He did... a few times already. Successfully.

[aikido]

This guy thinks he's guilty..

 

Why fans shouldn't forgive Armstrong - CNN.com

 

 

 

Editor's note: Jeff Pearlman is a columnist for SI.com. He blogs at jeffpearlman.com. His most recent book is "Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton." Follow him on twitter @jeffpearlman

 

(CNN) -- They are always the last to understand.

 

It's weird, isn't it, the way our greatest cheaters and liars go so far and so hard in their efforts to win and dominate and overcome that, en route, they fail to see the inevitable downfall that awaits?

 

Back in the early 2000s, when I was a baseball writer at Sports Illustrated, Barry Bonds treated everyone —teammates, coaches, opponents, fans, writers — as if they were specks of crud beneath his (regularly manicured) fingernails. He camped out in front of a wall of four lockers, had his own clubhouse videographer, his own clubhouse physical therapist, his own perky publicists. He was the greatest home run hitter who ever lived: a slugger who, well into his late 30s, was bashing 450-foot shots over the deepest of outfield walls.

 

Then — Balco. And Game of Shadows. And flaxseed oil. And embarrassing testimony.

 

 

Where is Barry Bonds today? Answer: Who the hell cares? His website is down. His cards can be had, straight up, in exchange for two Kirk McCaskills and a Sil Campusano. He will never be hired to work in the game, as either a broadcaster or coach. His records — in the minds of most fans — don't count. He is invisible. Worse than invisible.

 

He is insignificant.

 

News: Lance Armstrong banned from world Ironman events over doping probe

Lance Armstrong victim of vendetta?

Armstrong suspended from Ironman

2005: Lance Armstrong denies doping

 

Which leads us to Lance Armstrong. In case you missed the news, Wednesday morning the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency filed new charges against the seven-time Tour de France winner, threatening to strip the cycling legend of his triumphs. According to the agency, blood samples taken from Armstrong in 2009 and 2010 are "fully consistent with blood manipulation including EPO use and/or blood transfusions." The agency also accuses Armstrong of using and promoting the use of EPO (a blood booster), blood transfusions, testosterone, HGH and anti-inflammatory steroids. In an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes," Tyler Hamilton, Armstrong's former teammate, said he witnessed the star using EPO on multiple occasions.

 

Armstrong, of course, denies all the charges. I don't believe him. He says he is clean and innocent -- just as Barry Bonds was clean and innocent, just as Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa and Marion Jones and Shawne Merriman and every other too-good-to-possibly-be-true athletic freak was clean and innocent, too. He is a victim of the media. A victim of jealousy. A victim of haters. A victim of sport inconsistencies. Why, he's passed 350 tests and, even if the testing system is a complete joke, well, hey, he passed.

 

Ludicrous.

 

What Lance Armstrong is allegedly doing -- what all athletes in his shoes seem to do — is beyond damaging. Across the world, millions of people believe in Armstrong's narrative. They love his wins, yes, but what drives them and inspires them is the way he faced cancer and battled back from a near-death experience. Young children in pediatric care have been relayed his story, have been told that one day, if you stay strong and fight and believe, you, too, can be just like Lance Armstrong.

 

Sigh.

 

Surely, somewhere along the way, Armstrong apparently convinced himself that there was no other way. As the common athletic thinking goes: If everyone else is cheating, I need to cheat, too. That logic, now pervasive throughout all levels of sport, has turned our athletic endeavors into fraudulent clown shows.

 

For every Bonds and McGwire and Roger Clemens, there were clean ballplayers being robbed of their greatness. I'll never forget a conversation I once had with Sal Fasano, a journeyman catcher who spent his nine-team, 11-year big league career desperately trying to hold on to a job. We were chatting about all the catchers who were named in the Mitchell Report; all the men who loaded up, then stole the positions he was battling for.

 

"There's an idea that everyone cheats," Fasano said. "Well, I don't, and I never have. For me, it's about integrity. That's what counts."

 

Like Barry Bonds, Lance Armstrong is the last to know where he is headed. We are already beginning to speak of him as we do Alf and Emmanuel Lewis and Small Wonder on one of those "I Love the '80s" shows. We'll look back at his cycling reign and shrug, because it will be merely an illusion, an ugly period when people cheated to win, then faced a lifetime of banishment.

 

News: Lance Armstrong responds to agency's doping allegations

 

We will laugh. Then we will shrug. Then — nothingness.

 

Lance Armstrong will be invisible.

 

As he should be.

 

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[Jose Jones]

He's been tested so many times that it's just stupid to accuse him without any fucking proof.

 

Why didn't he test positive in the 34750825208 tests he gets from the tour, and such?

 

I think there is quite a lot of proof, hence the concrete charges that have been laid. All his former teammates have either got caught or admitted taking drugs and almost all his former rivals have been done too. I think it's fairly unlikely that Armstrong was the only member of his team not cheating.

[Paulie Dangerously]

Getting stripped of his Tour de Frances

[Jose Jones]

Getting stripped of his Tour de Frances

 

Bit pointless that really as Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso both got done for doping as well. Be a bit of a farce if they were "awarded" the wins.

[Stu Monty]

Give all his Tours to Abdoujaparov. Just for having the best name ever.

[Rafiagra]

That CNN article is bullshit. The journo totally disregards all of the negative test samples but claims Armstrong is guilty because everyone else at the time was doping. Using the same logic, he gives the example of some journeyman baseball player who wasn't taking drugs when it was rife as proof you had to be taking drugs to be one of the best. Are you telling me that there were no top players who weren't on drugs? Unlikely.

 

Of course performance enhancing drugs will do exactly that and on the balance of probabilities, he probably was taking them. But if you're going to nail him to the wall, you've got to use hard evidence, not supposition like that guy was doing.

[Unrighteous]

I think there is quite a lot of proof, hence the concrete charges that have been laid. All his former teammates have either got caught or admitted taking drugs and almost all his former rivals have been done too. I think it's fairly unlikely that Armstrong was the only member of his team not cheating.

 

If there was proof, then he'd get stripped of everything immediately.

 

You can't suggest that because others cheated, then he did.

 

For me, unless some real proof comes out, he's innocent...but hey I guess it's guilty until ... Well... Forever because someone says so.

[stevebaby]

A very interesting interview with Dr. Michael Ashenden about Armstrong's positive tests from 1999.

Michael Ashenden | NY Velocity - New York bike racing culture, news and events

 

And another interview with someone who knows Lance well...the incomparable Martin Jackson...I know Lance well

(read the whole thread)

[stevebaby]

On the subject of Armstrong's 300 or 500 negative tests...every single one of the top cyclists who've been busted also passed hundreds of tests, until they were caught. Does anyone really believe that they all just did it the one time they were caught?

[clangers]

If there was proof, then he'd get stripped of everything immediately.

 

You can't suggest that because others cheated, then he did.

 

For me, unless some real proof comes out, he's innocent...but hey I guess it's guilty until ... Well... Forever because someone says so.

 

No he wouldn't, he'd be charged and have a case to answer just as he has been. If there's no proof what's the problem with mounting a defense?

 

The reality is that there is evidence against him that he's simply trying to avoid it with the rather tenuous suggestion of a witch hunt. I do have sympathy for him though, let's face it, doping was the norm, nearly every major cyclist from that era has now been caught.

[Unrighteous]

No he wouldn't, he'd be charged and have a case to answer just as he has been. If there's no proof what's the problem with mounting a defense?

 

The reality is that there is evidence against him that he's simply trying to avoid it with the rather tenuous suggestion of a witch hunt. I do have sympathy for him though, let's face it, doping was the norm, nearly every major cyclist from that era has now been caught.

 

The thing is though... He's had allegations his whole career, he's had investigations out of the yang, but still he has his titles.

 

When there is a proof. They will be stripped.

 

... He's still got them.

 

Are charges a part of it? Maybe. But he's still got them. Guess what that means? He might not be innocent, but there isn't proof beyond a shadow of a doubt, yet.

[clangers]

The thing is though... He's had allegations his whole career, he's had investigations out of the yang, but still he has his titles.

 

When there is a proof. They will be stripped.

 

... He's still got them.

 

Are charges a part of it? Maybe. But he's still got them. Guess what that means? He might not be innocent, but there isn't proof beyond a shadow of a doubt, yet.

 

I agree to an extent, obviously everyone is innocent until proven guilty. However ducking out of charges brought against you is generally seen as an admission of guilt especially if the accused insists that there is no evidence, if that really is the case it shouldn't be a problem answering the charges.

 

The old it's a witch hunt, they're all out to get me line has been used by practically every athlete caught doping.

 

Cycling is slightly different to other sports because from the late 1980's doping effectively did become the norm so you can argue that Armstrong's achievements were actually achieved on a level playing field.

[milky]

Give all his Tours to Abdoujaparov. Just for having the best name ever.

 

Ah good old Djamolidine. Quite possibly the best name in any sport ever.

[Nomad]

No he wouldn't, he'd be charged and have a case to answer just as he has been. If there's no proof what's the problem with mounting a defense?The reality is that there is evidence against him that he's simply trying to avoid it with the rather tenuous suggestion of a witch hunt. I do have sympathy for him though, let's face it, doping was the norm, nearly every major cyclist from that era has now been caught.

 

lets take a step back for one minute and look at what has happened an althlete (armstrong) has been in the industry for years and never EVER failed a drugs test. yet 1 organisation has decided that by thier own logic he is guilty and that in thier eyes they have proof although the althlete states it is rubbish.

 

As such he has decided to stop fighting as he is onto a losing battle againt a vendeta to prove something without evidence.

 

sound familier?

 

i know to me it does and i know we cant talk about foot**ll on the GF but it just stinks of setting an example with no clear evidence.

 

As someone has said he has passed hundreds of tests and also fought this on many occasions

[Guest Pistonbroke]

Getting stripped of his Tour de Frances

 

That is only what USADA say, i doubt they have the power to do that.

[RobbieOR]

lets take a step back for one minute and look at what has happened an althlete (armstrong) has been in the industry for years and never EVER failed a drugs test. yet 1 organisation has decided that by thier own logic he is guilty and that in thier eyes they have proof although the althlete states it is rubbish.

 

As such he has decided to stop fighting as he is onto a losing battle againt a vendeta to prove something without evidence.

 

sound familier?

 

i know to me it does and i know we cant talk about foot**ll on the GF but it just stinks of setting an example with no clear evidence.

 

As someone has said he has passed hundreds of tests and also fought this on many occasions

 

All of Suarez's achievements and career milestones werent defined on that decision so its a stupid logic.

[Nomad]

That is only what USADA say, i doubt they have the power to do that.

 

I dont think they have the power as such but i think to race in any race he needs to be registared as part of a govening body. if they pull his registration then that may mean he was racing without a licence and 'could' be stripped.

 

if that makes sense.

[Nomad]

All of Suarez's achievements and career milestones werent defined on that decision so its a stupid logic.

 

Im not saying that sorry. What im saying is that he has decided that he is not going to fight the decision made by the USADA as he feels he is fighting a battle he cant win. the evidence the 'do' have is testimonies by ex team members. they have no physical evidence. if they did then there wouldn’t be any of this it would be out in the public and we would all know he is cheat.

 

Instead it looks like it will be based on testimonies and probabilities if you get what im saying.

 

i just find it similar to the Suarez case. im not saying it is EXACTLY the same.

[Carradona]

I believe it is a sport in which everyone is a cheating cunt.

[Guest Pistonbroke]

I dont think they have the power as such but i think to race in any race he needs to be registared as part of a govening body. if they pull his registration then that may mean he was racing without a licence and 'could' be stripped.

 

if that makes sense.

 

He was licensed when he raced for all his tour wins though, so they can't say we are revoking those licenses X amount of years later so we want the governing body of cycling to strip him of his titles. He will only be stripped if the evidence is put forward and it is proven he was using drugs etc during said tours. Hard to prove being as he passed all tests and only on the words of others years later. If he is stripped then it just opens a can of worms as any winner could expect the same treatment years after they have won something on the say so of other riders who might have excepted a bribe to say such things.

 

Innocent until proven otherwise IMO.

[RobbieOR]

Im not saying that sorry. What im saying is that he has decided that he is not going to fight the decision made by the USADA as he feels he is fighting a battle he cant win. the evidence the 'do' have is testimonies by ex team members. they have no physical evidence. if they did then there wouldn’t be any of this it would be out in the public and we would all know he is cheat.

 

Instead it looks like it will be based on testimonies and probabilities if you get what im saying.

 

i just find it similar to the Suarez case. im not saying it is EXACTLY the same.

Fair enough.

 

But, Armstrong is an extremely wealthy man. People would be sceptical with going public about him being a cheat because of who he is and there was a possibility that he could sue them for libel. That's generally why these things dont come out in the public.

 

I just dont see why he'd end his fight if we innocent. He'll lose his titles, he'll lose his credibility and Livestrong will be hit massively. Why give the fight up when you'll lose all of that?

 

I believe it is a sport in which everyone is a cheating cunt.

 

Was, not is.