If you watched the news this week then you have heard some pretty
interesting stories, from gun law debates to non-existent girlfriends.
Another story that caught everybody off guard was that of Lance
Armstrong. Everybody know who Lance is, winner of seven straight Tour de
Frances, survivor of three types of cancer (at the same time), and
founder of the Livestrong organization. A real stand-up guy, eh? Not so
much, ever since his amazing Tour de France domination he has faced
allegations of using illegal substances to enhance his performance. He
viciously fought these claims, trying to maintain his innocence. Last
August the United States Anti-Doping Agency stripped Lance of all his
titles since 1998 claiming that he had used illegal substances, despite
never having failed a drug test in that time. It's not until this past
Thursday that he admitted to Oprah that he had in fact used performance
enhancing drugs. What a fall from grace. Now what happens to his
legacy?
Many who looked up to Lance in the past are
crestfallen. However I think that despite his previous lies there is
still something to be said for him. As I mentioned before he had
survived testicular cancer, which then spread to his lungs and brain,
and come back to found the Livestrong organization, which is a charity
that has done remarkable work in the fight against cancer. Thankfully
though Livestrong has been able to survive without Armstrong. Had
Armstrong really been in control of Livestrong, this great organization
may well have tumbled by now; however because Lance hadn't tried to
micro-manage Livestrong is alive and well and thankfully able to
continue its fight against cancer without Armstrong as its face.
It's
probably for the best that Livestrong and Lance went their separate
ways; do you think that this split takes away from what is left of his
reputation as a man against cancer, or has this confession completely
destroyed his reputation?
Link: http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/17/living/armstrong-livestrong-foundation/index.html?iref=allsearch
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