Tainted cyclist Lance Armstrong has apparently confided that he relied upon performance enhancing drugs to boost his medal winning chances extensively during an interview with Oprah Winfrey on Monday.
In what to be known as his first interview ever since the entire doping episode came to light courtesy the unrelenting efforts of the USADA, Armstrong was highly anticipated to go in for a candid confession to Oprah, as evident by his message on Saturday: “I told her (Winfrey) to go wherever she wants and I’ll answer the questions directly, honestly and candidly. That’s all I can say.”
After the interview, Oprah tweeted: “Just wrapped with @lancearmstrong. More than 2 ½ hours. He came READY!” This added further anticipation for the show which airs on Thursday, increasing speculations that he has, indeed, ultimately came good with the controversy.
Different media reports confirm that Armstrong also apologized to staff members at the Livestrong Foundation, which he had set up, prior to the scheduled interview with Oprah. Though he apologized for disappointing the whole staff and putting the foundation’s prestige through the dirt after the controversy involved his name, he didn’t precisely confide to depending upon drugs there. He did included that he would still keep on fighting to ensure that the foundation’s targets and objectives will be fulfilled and his situation would not disrupt the process.
The cyclist had been stripped of his incredible 7 Tour de France titles last year after a USADA report which revealed, in the words of chief executive Travis Tygart, “the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen.”
Last summer, the Lance Armstrong Foundation pressed a lobbyist to Capitol Hill to raise concerns about USADA’s financing, mission and authority — even after USADA’s investigation is nowhere related with the charity’s mission to support cancer patients and their relatives.
However, the relationships of Armstrong, Livestrong and Armstrong’s sponsors have long been affected, and getting them straightened is almost impossible. The cyclist may not receive a written statement with the cut of every yellow Livestrong bracelet sold in a Nike store or on the Nike website, or from a Radio Shack campaign requesting clients to donate to Livestrong at the checkout counter, with the Outside magazine stating before this year, Livestrong and his charity are similar to “conjoined twins.”
The mutual relationship between Armstrong and his foundation has been under the scanner since Oct. 10, when USADA gave out its breakthrough report mentioning why it stripped Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles and banned him for life.
A number of events have taken place during the same time itself such as the International Cycling Union making an announcement that it would not appeal USADA’s decision. Meanwhile, it was Armstrong’s strategic relationship with mainstream cycling that mattered a lot. Many of Armstrong’s sponsors such as Nike and including Anheuser-Busch, Trek Bicycles, Radio Shack and Oakley, declared during the same time itself that they were cutting ties with the cyclist, most including that they would remain associated with his charity.
