Lance Armstrong Oprah Interview: Disgraced US Cyclist Doesn't Deserve Redemption
Well, he’s finally admitted it.
Lance Armstrong disgraced himself and his country during his Oprah Winfrey interview. He came clean and admitted to using various performance enhancing drugs and banned methods of performance enhancement during all seven of his Tour de France victories.
After years of finger pointing, deflecting and denying, the former top cyclist has admitted that his vast accomplishments were predicated on lies.
They weren’t little lies, either. They were big lies that compounded on top of lies, until there was nothing left but a mockery of athletic competition.
He understands his errors and wrongdoings, but that doesn’t mean he is worthy of redemption, or even forgiveness.
Yes, we are all human beings. That applies here, because we all were made to believe something that was a lie.
We didn’t just believe in it, we cheered and were truly inspired by this man’s fabricated run of unprecedented achievement.
Armstrong beat cancer and he beat the world, seven times, to win one of the most physically demanding and challenging events in the world.
An American, conquering the world, returned to his country as a hero each time.
His foundation set the tone for a movement to help people battling cancer and provided information for us all to live more healthy and productive lives.
He transcended cycling and immersed himself into American culture.
That brings us to his statement about a potential comeback to the sport.
"If you're asking me if I want to compete again, the answer is hell yes, I'm a competitor,” Armstrong said during the interview (via Huffington Post).
No, I’m sorry, Mr. Armstrong. You may deserve compassion and our humanity but that doesn’t mean you deserve another shot.
He had his chance and chose to do what he did to get an unfair advantage.
It’s a lesson that can be used to discourage children, and current athletes, from continuing to search for shortcuts to greatness.
There should be no redemption, not now or down the line, for one of the biggest frauds in modern sporting history.
