On the whole, I'm not a big fan of individual sports. I've actually gone on the record as saying that I don't think most individual competitions - including track and field, gymnastics and swimming - are actually sports, arguing that they are at best athletic competitions and at worst recreational activities. 99 times out of 100, I'll rank a football, basketball or baseball player's accomplishments ahead of anything that a runner, gymnast or swimmer can do, and as a result I don't find it at all surprising that we spend every day of our lives following either the NFL, NBA or MLB (and even the NHL) while individual sports grab the national spotlight only once every four years. All of that being said, however, I have always had an irrational and unexplainable affinity for Lance Armstrong, and have been more affected by his use of PEDs than I have by similar injustices on the part of baseball, basketball and football players.
Lance Armstrong had all of the necessary ingredients for becoming an American sports icon. Regardless of how you feel about the sport of cycling and the Tour de France, no one would argue that Armstrong isn't a phenomenal athlete, and virtually everyone acknowledges that winning any worldwide, annual competition seven times is a row in a remarkable accomplishment the likes of which may never be seen again. In addition to his athletic abilities, Armstrong had the same charisma and charm that has caused Americans to fall in love with guys like Peyton Manning and Derek Jeter, highlighted by his Oscar-worthy cameo in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. And perhaps most importantly, Armstrong seemed to have the leadership qualities that you rarely find in an individual sport athlete. I know that cycling / the Tour de France is supposedly a team sport (though I can't say I really understand it) so I'm sure that had something to do with it, but his work with the Livestrong foundation really led me to believe that Armstrong, like Manning and Jeter, was the kind of guy you'd follow into battle.
When news first came out about Armstrong and PEDs, I didn't believe it. I'm typically pretty cynical when it comes to this kind of stuff, and have often adopted a "guilty until proven innocent" mindset when it comes to athletes accused of doping. But for Lance, I truly believed he was clean - I didn't want to believe otherwise. I wanted his seven consecutive Tour de France victories - all after recovering from cancer - to be legitimate, and figured that some jealous former opponent who got tired of losing (or teammate who got tired of staying in the shadows) was trying to defame cycling's golden boy. Now that every officiating body - not to mention Nike and Livestrong - have parted ways with Armstrong and stripped him of everything that he "earned" as an athlete, I'm depressed. When other athletes have been found guilty of doping, I've found myself feeling happy that justice has been served. When it comes to Lance, however, I just want to wake up and have all of the PED-related news and accusations just disappear.
As I followed his utter domination of the sport of cycling, I always believed that we'd never see anyone monopolize the spotlight like Lance Armstrong did from 1999 to 2005. Now that we know why Armstrong was so much better than the (allegedly clean) competition, I hope we never do. The only thing sadder than Lance's fall from grace is what this says about our champions, particularly in individual sports. The next time we witness a prodigy like Armstrong, we won't be focusing on the impressiveness of his or her feat. Instead, we'll be wondering what sort of illegal boost he or she used to reach the top.
2 comments:
Hey Matt- I have sympathy for your sadness but most of all relate to your thought that you "just want to wake up and have all of the PED-related news and accusations just disappear". For me it's not as much about losing Lance because he still overcame incredible odds to do what he did, and what he chose to do with his fame with the Livestrong foundation has been an inspiration to so many. Yes, it was built on lies and bullying but I like to think that using his ill-gotten powers for good at least deserves some credit. I think the saddest thing is that cycling got to a point where Levi says to the WSJ that "athletes at the highest level-perhaps without exception-used banned substances." Where they can't even award the titles to anyone else because there is a definite possibility that no one was clean. So though I do regret the loss of someone I wanted to believe the best of, I mostly hope that his story now warns people that it's not worth winning at all costs and that his fall may even result in making cycling cleaner.
-Nichole
Very well said, Nichole - and thanks for the comment. Ideally this serves as a big wake-up call for athletes in cycling and in other sports.
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