Lance Armstrong Set to Address Doping Charges in Interview with Oprah Winfrey

Lance Armstrong will discuss the doping scandal that has tarnished his reputation and legacy in an exclusive interview with Oprah Winfrey on Jan. 17.

UPDATE: Friday, Jan. 11 at 11:59 p.m. ET by Alex Ballentine

Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today has reported that Armstrong intends to admit to doping throughout his career in the interview with Oprah Winfrey. 

According to the report, Armstrong will not get specific in terms of cases and events in which it occurred but will admit to doping nonetheless.

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Oprah.com reported the following details on the interview:

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The special 90-minute Thursday night episode of Oprah's Next Chapter will air Thursday, January 17(9:00 – 10:30 p.m. ET/PT) on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. In addition-the interview will be simultaneously streamed LIVE worldwide on Oprah.com. 

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This past August, Armstrong decided to stop battling the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s (USADA) allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs in order to win his seven Tour de France titles. While he explicitly stated that this was not an admission of guilt, it has resulted in all of his titles being stripped.

Reports surfaced in October that Armstrong was not only involved in the cheating scandal but also “at the center of ‘the most sophisticated, professionalized, and successful doping program that sport has ever seen,’” according to John Powers of The Boston Globe, who quoted the USADA.

In November, the fallout also caused Armstrong to resign as the chairman of Livestrong, a charitable organization he founded to help support cancer victims.

This is the first time Armstrong has allowed such an extensive interview to be conducted, and he has never admitted to cheating.

The Oprah.com report states that his involvement in the doping scandal will be the subject of the interview, and the event is generating a significant amount of interest in anticipation of an admission.

Currently, it is the USADA's extensive amount of evidence—which includes 1,000 pages of documents and statements from 26 people, as Powers notes—against Armstrong's word. The sports world will hope for more clarity after Thursday night's much-anticipated interview.