Comments on: Is It Still Cool To Like Lance Armstrong?

By: KK

KK — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 03:05:00 +0000

Not cool

By: bike_writer

bike_writer — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 02:51:00 +0000

It’s still very cool.

By: James Wanless

James Wanless — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 23:10:00 +0000

I won’t diminish what his Tour victories did for cycling in general, or what his celebrity and effort was able to accomplish for cancer research fundraising. However, he wouldn’t have had any of that without the doping. Some people say they don’t believe a word of it without concrete proof. If previous allegations (by teammates no less) and the rumoured ’99 doping issue weren’t enough, I’d have to say Tyler Hamilton’s recent allegations pretty much cinch the deal. What about the fact that in his prime he was able to slaughter competition, in the Alps, most of whom were proven to have been doping at the time … and after surviving cancer.

There is a little too much evidence there to be tossed aside because you ‘want’ him to be beyond reproach. So, you ask whether it’s cool to like Lance. I’d say it’s very cool to admire his accomplishments on the bike (comparing dopers to dopers) and with regard to fundraising. I can’t respect him as a person, though, and not because he doped. Since he has managed to silence most of his critics and avoid a proven test result, he’s basically taunted and challenged the media and others to produce such a result.

He’s got too much money and prestige tied up in continuing the lie to ever come clean so those who want a result before dissing him will be able to continue living in a fantasy, while those of us who feel he’s just a cheat will never be satisfied. There’s no real winner here, except Lance. What I find the most upsetting about the post above are the following two passages:

>> I don’t know the facts or the truth about whether Lance engaged in
systematic doping as a professional cyclist, but I don’t really care
either.

Shouldn’t you care just on ethical grounds?

>> But because we like to single out the
champs and the heros, people like Lance Armstrong get hit the hardest.

Really? I bet Hamilton (who voluntarily gave up Olympic gold) and Landis (who was stripped of his Tour victory) would beg to differ. Even if Lance was stripped of his prestige and Tour victories, he’s so wealthy now that he’ll never be hit as hard as those two.

By: Matt

Matt — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 04:19:42 +0000

Absolutely it is ok to still love/like/admire the man! He is a cycling and humanitarian legend.

Until they have 100% concrete proof against him then I believe what he says about doping. That may be naive but that’s the way I feel about it all.

In the end those who hate him will feel vindicated if anything is ever proved and those of us that love him probably won’t care.

Lance is so much more than 7 TdF wins.

By: Clive Chapman

Clive Chapman — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 06:23:59 +0000

I’m not a huge road racing fan, I watch the TDF and that’s it. My take on it is does it really matter? He’s obviously a great athlete who probably has doped (not that I care as it seems most of the peloton does) and has fought and won a huge personal battle against cancer. His athletic career is over. He’s now on a crusade against cancer and if his force of will he took into his racing is taken into his cancer campaign then brilliant and good luck to him. I’m not getting the extremes of opinion about him that he seems to generate.

By: Darryl

Darryl — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 21:35:07 +0000

Awesome response, Tom. Thanks so much for this. Yeah, you would think that after the thousands of random drug tests he has gone through (all coming out negative) that people would just get off his back already. I agree with you that he is not taking any hardcore drugs, but I do think that he has taken some enhancements along the way. (Just my opinion). Nothing against him, I believe that to be in that calibre you have to be taking something to help your performance and stay on an even playing field with the others. Maybe he hasn’t….I’m really not sure. But like I say in the post, I don’t really care either. I honestly don’t pay attention to it at all. He’s a great cyclist (one of the best of all time), he’s an incredible advocate of the sport, and what he’s done with LiveSTRONG is absolutely brilliant. That’s all that matters to me.

Darryl

By: Tom Bracegirdle

Tom Bracegirdle — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 18:37:07 +0000

I think Lance is an incredible human being, not only what he has achieved physically but what he has done with his life off the bike.
What he and Livestrong do for so many millions is just unbelievable. I cannot put into words how much I admire his work and how much respect I have for him for what he does for those affected by cancer and other illnesses. This side of his life for me is nothing to do with the Lance Armstrong associated with cycling myself and millions of others have come to love, but the Lance Armstrong ‘off camera’ as it were. The work he does for Livestrong is purely from his heart, behind the scenes work that people who don’t admire him don’t see. Sometimes I fear people don’t look past the bike, they don’t see the cancer battling Lance, only the bike riding Lance. If people dont admire Lance for his bike riding for a variety of reasons they should still be able to admire the man for the incredible work he does helping others around the globe.
Not only do I love Lance for his cancer work, I also love him for his ability on the bike. I have no doubt, not one single percent of doubt that Lance has taken any performance enhancing drug. How could I? How could I aim to live my life in a way like lance and be inspired on and off the bike every day by Lance Armstrong if I believed in the slightest that he was a cheat. The man isn’t a cheat. The UCI have never announced any trace of an illegal substance in any of lances samples since his return to cycling after cancer. Now I don’t want to start sounding like one of these people who searches the web for facts and figures about Lances connection with (or in my belief) without drugs. This is coming from the heart. How could a man chasing after a career in cycling with every bone in his body, be diagnosed with cancer…survive cancer… and then risk his life by taking drugs with massive side affects just to be successful in sport? He and no other human in the right mind would do it. You only have to read his books and look at his fitness data from when Lance was young to see he was a extraordinary athlete from a young age. His cardiovascular system and respiratory system are far more efficient and advanced than not only other humans but far more advanced than other pro cyclists. It is a combination of a fantastic anatomy, incredible dedication and unbelievable fighting spirit that make Lance the Cyclist he was and is today, not some pathetic drugs.
I am an extremely keen cyclist, I draw almost every ounce of my inspiration from Lance,I race with a picture of him in my back pocket, I wear a livestrong band every second of every day to help raise awareness of his organisation, I make moral decisions based on what lance has taught me in life. He is mine, more than anyone else’s role modal in life and on the bike. He is a living star, living legend and living God.
By the way, in response to your initial question, I think he’s pretty damn cool
Vive le Lance <3

Tom Bracegirdle
Twitter: Bracey111

By: Traci

Traci — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 14:40:38 +0000

I agree with Allison and Richard in that I just don’t understand why any celebrity is always looked upon as a hero. I’m definitely not into celebrity worship and often joke that any big name actor/actress could cross my path and I wouldn’t even notice Many celebrities/athletes do absolutely nothing good (or only bring bad publicity to their sport as with people like Michael Vick). At least Lance has done quite a lot of good for several causes, regardless of whether he was guilty of doping or not. And like you said Darryl, it’s not as if every other cyclist at that level isn’t just as guilty. It’s only a matter of time before they will be under scrutiny as well!

By: Loving the Bike

Loving the Bike — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 14:06:24 +0000

Great comments Eric, thanks for leaving them. I totally agree…..if Lance did take banned substances I know that he was not alone so that puts everyone back on the same playing field again. But the incredible hard work and determination that he put in was all his own. It was that ingredient that made him a champion.

Darryl

By: Eric Hutchins

Eric Hutchins — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 13:50:59 +0000

For me it first starts with a fundamental concept that is very very important to me, and that is that a person is “Innocent until PROVEN guilty”. Landis or any other jealous idiot with an axe to grind saying its SO, does not make it SO. I have seen so many people including some very close to me, that are absolutely positively innocent of something, be dragged through the courts, be trashed in the public and media, only to later be proven innocent. But even when it is PROVEN that they are innocent, that cloak of suspicion never goes away.

So, any time I hear people yak about how guilty someone is, when they know nothing about it, except what they are spoon fed by the media, or gossip, I want to just shake them.

With respect to Lance, I will accept his innocence until something else is proven. In addition, I certainly do not believe that he was doing anything so substantially different than any of his major competitors that would explain his amazing run.
His workouts are legendary, his grit, his tolerence for pain and his sheer will is something that I have great respect for. In addition, IMO, he is simply physically gifted.

I remember that as a youngster he came to St Croix to compete in a very difficult triathlon. He was up against many of the top pros at the time, and he was right in the mix the whole race even though he was just a kid with almost no triathlon training and no experience.

We are so quick to make people into heroes, and then with as much zeal as we had to make statues of them, we seem to want to tear them down.

He is just a guy, with a lot of heart, that rides really well, that uses his platform to try to do some good for a cause that is personally important.

The rest is just a lot of hoooey.

And I think he is cool.