Lance Armstrong no longer able to hide from the evidence: The full USADA report

Posted on Thursday, October 11, 2012 at 10:19 AM

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You could drive yourself pretty crazy trying to reconcile the gap between Lance Armstrong the cheating doper and Lance Armstrong the incredible champion of the fight against cancer. Perhaps a time will come when former fans of Armstrong like myself can view Armstrong in two lights, separating his wonderful charity work, and his disdainful steroid usage. Right now that time feels a long way away, as the level of cheating that has been exposed is simply overwhelming.

There are plenty who aren’t wildly familiar with Armstrong’s charity work who are reviewing the mounting evidence and screaming ‘Just throw him in jail and throw away the key’. For those of us who witnessed the positive impact of both Armstrong’s written and physical work in the fight against cancer, it has been hard to face up to the facts.

The release of the US Anti-Doping Agency’s (USADA) report today basically wipes away any possibility at all that Lance ‘didn’t do it’.

Sadly it is all there in black and white. Armstrong was an enormous cheat. Still feeling in any way in doubt? Well, check this out.

US Anti-Doping Agency’s (USADA) report

Whatever way Armstrong and his legal team try to spin this, perhaps the most damning evidence amongst the over 200 pages of material published by the USADA is the fact that no less than eleven former team-mates of Armstrong, including some still highly respected members of the cycling World, have come forward to give evidence that yes, he was sticking needles in his backside. Those eleven names basically wipe away any doubt whatsoever, and they are; Frankie Andreu, Michael Barry, Tom Danielson, Tyler Hamilton, George Hincapie, Floyd Landis, Levi Leipheimer, Stephen Swart, Christian Vande Velde, Jonathan Vaughters and David Zabriskie.

It is impossible to see how Armstrong can continue to deny not only the 200 page report but also the evidence from those eleven former tem-mates.

What is left is two sets of facts which have to be weighed against each other.

In the positive corner, the very name Lance Armstrong has become a guiding light to those people and their families and friends that have fought and are fighting cancer. Want to put some numbers on this? Easily done. The Lance Armstrong Foundation has raised almost $500 million (340 million euros, 310 million pounds) since it was created in 1997. That is a mind boggling number and worthy of praise no matter the situation.

In the negative corner, we can simply use the USADA statement . Armstrong, they claim, was at the heart of "the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen. He was not just a part of the doping culture on his team, he enforced and re-enforced it."

What is clear is that Armstrong is gone now from organised cycling, and with his record seven Tour De France titles stripped from his grasp, all that remains is his legacy.

As for that, now it is up to us as sports fans to figure out just what exactly that legacy is.

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9 comments

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seanomelb | Oct 13, 2012, 08:03 PM EDT

It's not a matter of "slinging garbage". It's a matter f getting the record straight.The foundation and its work is an entirely different matter.

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Lokelani | Oct 13, 2012, 07:01 AM EDT

The Lance Armstrong Foundation has raised almost $500 million (340 million euros, 310 million pounds) since it was created in 1997. That is a mind boggling number and worthy of praise no matter the situation. Let's not forget the good he's done when you are slinging garbage.

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citizen69 | Oct 13, 2012, 05:32 AM EDT

I feel sorry for all the runners-up who should have been winners.

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AlunPalmer | Oct 12, 2012, 11:58 PM EDT

I mean keep them intact, LOL!

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AlunPalmer | Oct 12, 2012, 11:55 PM EDT

I always thought that all those medals might be some, albeit poor, consolation for the loss of his testicles, and long suspected that the hormones he had to take just to function normally might well have given him a competitive advantage even without taking anything else, but found it hard to begrudge him that, when all considered. It seems a shame he should lose his medals as well as his balls, although at least he has himself to blame for the former. I know I'd sooner have mine intact than any medal.

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seanomelb | Oct 12, 2012, 06:08 PM EDT

let us be clear hunter933 Armstrong was a cheat,he was not a top athlete he was an athlete who gave himself an unfair and illegal advantage.Let us call a spade a spade and Armstrong dug his own hole.

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nicgearailt | Oct 12, 2012, 12:43 PM EDT

money is at the root of a lot of bad decisions..sad but true..

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nicgearailt | Oct 12, 2012, 10:15 AM EDT

@hunter933: Interesting line of thought, however, I think you are probably going too easy on cheats. As Monica in Friends always said; 'Rules make the games more fun', whatever about that, they do make them more fair.

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hunter933 | Oct 12, 2012, 09:59 AM EDT

Maybe professional athletes should be allowed to do whatever they need to do to win. We don't need a bureaucracy meddling in everything. They began with steroids and then expanded to blood doping and more. Use of steroids is at most controversial. Outing these athletes has become a growth industry. They are adults that know what they are doing and understand the risks.

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