Lance Armstrong - overwhelming evidence of cheating

How can you retrospectively test somebody for banned substances? If they were on the banned list back then they should have been able to test for them then back then, not ten years later. What next? getting samples of Ali/Frazer/Foremans blood from the sixties and saying that they contained too much testoterone!! so you have to strip them of their titles.
Is is cheating? - yes. Is it worth the fuss now? - maybe - are those caught the only ones? No flippin chance

 

We've just been subjected to an Olympics where millions of viewers were treated to the 'spectacle' of athletes from one certain federation dominating the track events .... I'm not talking about one individual in one event - I'm talking about one of the smallest federations (by population) miraculously providing c80% of finalists in sprints, both male & female. It's also strangely enough the federation that does not agree to their athletes being tested for drugs outside of the main competition season .... which means they can juice up on whatever they like for 3 months, clean up (biologically) for 3 months to remove all traces of drugs, then compete for 6 months using the muscles they built up by abusing drugs, and hence walk (should that be 'run') away with the bulk of the medals.

Anyone who thinks elite sport is 'clean' is badly deluded.

 

There was a great documentary on the Beeb before the Olympics about the 1984 100m final and its implication that all the runners, and not just Johnson, were on something. Im pretty sure that of the ten, only one hasnt been tarred with the steriod brush. That one wasnt Carl Lewis either, although not proved, all the signs were there that he had been juiced upto the eyeballs for years.
One of the easiest ways to even things out it to legalise all perfermance enhancing drugs, but then that isn't in the spirit of competition

 

Maybe they ought to have a separate competition for anyone to have as much drug assistance as they want. Can you imagine what the contestants would look like? Comic book characters with bulging veiny muscles that, as they cross the 100 metre finish line in six seconds, they have a fatal heart attack or stroke! - ...............Hmmm, think I might get Pay per View for that. :biggrin:

 

Yet there are some who can't accept it. One of the pro cyclists today didn't want to strip him of his honours and called him a legend for all the money he's raised due to his charity work. Sounds familiar. A certain blonde haired, cigar smoking, hospital porter springs to mind. (Not suggesting Lance is a kiddie-fiddler of course).

 

that my friend = ratings It would be like Death Race :biggrin:

 

Wherever you find competition among humans, you will find cheating. And it will never stop.

 

Every sport has its own complex set of rules, methods of applying them, and lots of competitors who break the rules, commit fouls, etc all the time. It is up to the sport's referees/umpires/stewards to take action at the time, or up to other competitors/teams to protest. If nothing was done at the time, it is unreasonable now to wind the clock back to previous years, and purport to "take away" wins and championships which have been in the record books for a long time.

If someone alleged today that a bike or a rider which won a championship in (say) 2007 had breached some rules, should the championship be retrospectively taken away? Or even if it was proved? I don't think so; does anyone think it should?

 

The problem with this case is that doping is so rife in cycling, and someone needs to be made a scapegoat for all others' wrongdoings in order to perpetuate change. Everyone knows, and has known for years, that doping is endemic to cycling, and the ruling bodies quite rightly want to stamp it out. In the case of cycling it'll take extreme measures, as Lance Armstrong has just found out...

 

I read today that there is reason to believe that 20 of the 21 riders that stood on the podium during the Armstrong years were doping.


Armstrong allegedly was at the centre of a doping conspiracy that used every dirty trick in the book to hide the truth and it sounds like that trend is continuing today if you listen to the latest statements from his people.


If George Hincapie has held his hand up then really the game is over.


The UCI appears to have been complicit in hiding the truth.

 

Probably not but I think Armstrong is guilty beyond reasonable doubt on what I have read and deserves to be seen for what he is, a cheat and a bully.

 

Armstrong has been shown to be a cheat, fair and square. The problem lies in the fact that almost every other competitor in that sport is also cheating, so it's not really fair to penalise just one person. So I have this message to pass on to Mr Armstrong:


Tough.

 

That Armstrong is a cheat is one thing. He just joins a whole line of cycling cheats.

That he was a bully forcing others to cheat is something else, as far as I am concerned. I loathe people like that. I don't care what happens to Armstrong. He seems like a particularly disagreeable character.

Stripping him of his titles? I don't care one way or another. As some have said, it's a bit late for bloody tears now. I'm all in favour of his being vilified. One day, maybe, they will stop doping in the TdeF. Or maybe they won't. But they should at least try.

 

I don't think he was ever the astronaut he was cracked up to be anyway- the only reason people are talking about it is because he's died...... :biggrin:

 

Cheating amongst a sport of cheats doesnt make his achievements any less imho, but forcing others in his team to take the same risks for his benefit is

bad form in many counts

 

I mean- claiming to be the first man to land on the moon.....on a bicycle whilst playing the trumpet- you'd have to be on drugs wouldn't you??

 

The way that I see it..... is that it was a level playing field. The top riders were all doped-up, and he was doing the same thing.

It doesn't seem right to me that he can now be stripped of his titles - even with the all drugs his story is still one of amazing achievements.

 

It could be argued that if this is the case then he won on a level playing field meaning his championship status is still valid, unless the whole TDF etc is to be discredited for the last xx years?...