Fall From Grace

Lance Armstrong was my personal hero for many years. I did speeches and reports about him all the way back since elementary school. I was a huge fan of his; I read all of his books. I wore the Livestrong Bracelet everywhere I went, and I would get into fights with people while debating who the greatest athlete of all time was. Anyone that said someone other than Lance was WRONG. I connected with him because of his huge success after overcoming cancer. I was a young athletic child, but I also faced many health issues. I knew that I could be like Lance, maybe not an Olympic athlete or world record setter, but I could be like him in that I wouldn't let my disadvantages hold me back from what I loved.

 Thankfully, his Livestrong organization will continue to thrive separately from Lance. They do amazing work for people suffering from cancer and their families.

 Lance's "Fall from Grace" has been in the headlines for quite a while. I, like many others, ignored them and continued to believe in him. Not only because I thought he was innocent, but because I didn't want to lose everything that he stood for. He had never tested positive in any of the hundreds of tests he had taken. He had just as many people saying that he was clean as there were people saying he was a cheater. I believed him when he directly addressed his fans and said that he did not dope. However sad it is that Lance did indeed dope, he still beat cancer and trained his body to ride against others who were doing the same thing. He may not be a hero right now, but he is still an amazing athlete.

 Bill Strickland was another huge fan and friend of Lance Armstrong. He is a journalist and even wrote a book about Lance. He wrote an article that talks about Lance’s admission and his feelings on it: http://www.bicycling.com/news/pro-cycling/lance-armstrongs-endgame?page=0,4

This article shows the effects that Lance had on many people.  I was most concerned about what people would think about everything Lance stood for, overcoming illness, beating the odds, and not losing hope. Would his fans believe that if he couldn’t do it for himself then they can’t either?

 There is another side to this whole story though: it's not just Lance. Cycling has been found to be part of the biggest doping ring scandal in sports. Doping is a problem in all sports, and with all athletes. The effects of blood doping have been studied and I have come to the conclusion that maybe it wasn't all Lace that had all of the victories, he had some help. You can see a study here: http://www.setantacollege.com/wp-content/uploads/Journal_db/Effect%20of%20rhEPO%20administration%20on%20serum%20levels%20of%20sTfR%20and%20cycling%20performance..pdf

 Drugs in sports make the field uneven for the players. How can you be the best if the best are all cheating? Not only is it not safe for the athletes, but it puts them in situations where they either have to become part of the circle or compete in unfair circumstances. Most people think about baseball when drugs in sports come up; however cycling executed the most sophisticated ring of doping in the history of sports.