Oprah interviews Lance Armstrong
17 January 2013, 10:39 PM
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18 January 2013, 07:21 AM
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Now Lance has been dealt with when's Contador lifetime ban coming into force?
Looking at the Tour De France historical doping table he appears rather frequently, see link.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...by-doping.html
Nik.
Looking at the Tour De France historical doping table he appears rather frequently, see link.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...by-doping.html
Nik.
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18 January 2013, 08:23 AM
#12
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I'd love to hear how he answered these:
1. Why now, Lance? Is it because in one potential perjury case the statute of limitations has passed? Is it because you've already lost almost all your sponsors, had to step back from your foundation and are no longer getting the attention you once earned? Did you have to lose nearly everything until you sought the only possible out? And at this point, why are you worth listening to at all?
2. Why are you doing this with me, Oprah Winfrey? I'm not known for my cycling knowledge or for pointed follow-up questions or my investigative journalistic skills. In fact, it's the opposite. Wouldn't sitting down with Scott Pelley at "60 Minutes" have been a more legitimate forum? How about the Sunday Times, which you sued for libel for printing the truth? Or any of the French or American media that you bashed all along when in fact they weren't wrong at all? You always fashioned yourself as a tough guy, Lance. You beat cancer for crying out loud, why go soft now?
3. Let's talk Betsy Andreu, the wife of one your former team-mates, Frankie. Both Andreus testified under oath that they were in a hospital room in 1996 when you admitted to a doctor to using EPO, HGH and steroids. You responded by calling them "vindictive, bitter, vengeful and jealous." And that's the stuff we can say on TV. And what would you say directly to Betsy, who dealt with a voicemail from one of your henchmen that included, she's testified, this: "I hope somebody breaks a baseball bat over your head. I also hope that one day you have adversity in your life and you have some type of tragedy that will … definitely make an impact on you." When you heard about that voicemail, why didn't you call Betsy and apologise then?
4. By the way, did you take performance-enhancing drugs prior to your diagnosis of testicular cancer, as Betsy Andreu, who I now have every single reason to believe, says you admitted to doing? Do you think it played a role in your diagnosis? And while the reason you contracted cancer does nothing to diminish the intensity of your battle, or the great example of strength it provided, don't you think it would've been an essential part of your public campaign against the disease to mention that you used performance-enhancing drugs?
5. Just to get it on the record, because the way things are going I'm pretty sure this will come out at a later date, did you or your minions ever pressure federal authorities to stall investigations into your doping? Now, you wouldn't lie to me, right, Lance?
6. What do you say to Emma O'Reilly, who was a young Dublin native when she was first hired by the US Postal team to give massages to the riders after races? In the early 2000s, she told stories of rampant doping and how she was used to transport the drugs across international borders. In the USADA report, she testified that you tried to "make my life hell." Her story was true, Lance, wasn't it? And you knew it was true. Yet despite knowing it was true, you, a famous multimillionaire superstar, used high-priced lawyers to sue this simple woman for more money than she was worth in England, where slander laws favour the famous. She had no chance to fight it. She testified that you tried to ruin her by spreading word that she was a prostitute with a heavy drinking problem. "The traumatising part," she once told the New York Times, "was dealing with telling the truth." Do you want to apologise to her? Not in general. I mean directly and by name. I mean, Lance, of all the people to attack like that, of all the people you had power and wealth over, you had to go after her? How Lance, could you do this to someone, and why would anyone want to believe again in someone capable of doing this to someone?
7. In 2011, former team-mate Tyler Hamilton spoke about you and doping on "60 Minutes." He later said you two ran into each other in a Colorado restaurant where he says you tried to intimidate him, saying, "I'm going to make your life a living hell both in the courtroom and out of the courtroom." Yet you knew he was telling the truth, right Lance? So why threaten him?
8. Greg LeMond, a three-time Tour de France champion, once raised the following hypothetical question: "If Lance's story is true, it's the greatest comeback in the history of sport. If it's not, it's the greatest fraud." The allegation is that you heard that and decided to use your influence with Trek bikes to drop its association with LeMond's brand. The company even went to court to end a long-term contract. "Greg's public comments hurt the LeMond brand and the Trek brand," a company official said at the time. What comment? Wondering about something that was true? The move cost LeMond millions. Did you try to ruin him financially simply for spite?
9. We've just scratched the surface on people you pushed around. There are more victims in your wake. Do you want me to continue with the others?
1. Why now, Lance? Is it because in one potential perjury case the statute of limitations has passed? Is it because you've already lost almost all your sponsors, had to step back from your foundation and are no longer getting the attention you once earned? Did you have to lose nearly everything until you sought the only possible out? And at this point, why are you worth listening to at all?
2. Why are you doing this with me, Oprah Winfrey? I'm not known for my cycling knowledge or for pointed follow-up questions or my investigative journalistic skills. In fact, it's the opposite. Wouldn't sitting down with Scott Pelley at "60 Minutes" have been a more legitimate forum? How about the Sunday Times, which you sued for libel for printing the truth? Or any of the French or American media that you bashed all along when in fact they weren't wrong at all? You always fashioned yourself as a tough guy, Lance. You beat cancer for crying out loud, why go soft now?
3. Let's talk Betsy Andreu, the wife of one your former team-mates, Frankie. Both Andreus testified under oath that they were in a hospital room in 1996 when you admitted to a doctor to using EPO, HGH and steroids. You responded by calling them "vindictive, bitter, vengeful and jealous." And that's the stuff we can say on TV. And what would you say directly to Betsy, who dealt with a voicemail from one of your henchmen that included, she's testified, this: "I hope somebody breaks a baseball bat over your head. I also hope that one day you have adversity in your life and you have some type of tragedy that will … definitely make an impact on you." When you heard about that voicemail, why didn't you call Betsy and apologise then?
4. By the way, did you take performance-enhancing drugs prior to your diagnosis of testicular cancer, as Betsy Andreu, who I now have every single reason to believe, says you admitted to doing? Do you think it played a role in your diagnosis? And while the reason you contracted cancer does nothing to diminish the intensity of your battle, or the great example of strength it provided, don't you think it would've been an essential part of your public campaign against the disease to mention that you used performance-enhancing drugs?
5. Just to get it on the record, because the way things are going I'm pretty sure this will come out at a later date, did you or your minions ever pressure federal authorities to stall investigations into your doping? Now, you wouldn't lie to me, right, Lance?
6. What do you say to Emma O'Reilly, who was a young Dublin native when she was first hired by the US Postal team to give massages to the riders after races? In the early 2000s, she told stories of rampant doping and how she was used to transport the drugs across international borders. In the USADA report, she testified that you tried to "make my life hell." Her story was true, Lance, wasn't it? And you knew it was true. Yet despite knowing it was true, you, a famous multimillionaire superstar, used high-priced lawyers to sue this simple woman for more money than she was worth in England, where slander laws favour the famous. She had no chance to fight it. She testified that you tried to ruin her by spreading word that she was a prostitute with a heavy drinking problem. "The traumatising part," she once told the New York Times, "was dealing with telling the truth." Do you want to apologise to her? Not in general. I mean directly and by name. I mean, Lance, of all the people to attack like that, of all the people you had power and wealth over, you had to go after her? How Lance, could you do this to someone, and why would anyone want to believe again in someone capable of doing this to someone?
7. In 2011, former team-mate Tyler Hamilton spoke about you and doping on "60 Minutes." He later said you two ran into each other in a Colorado restaurant where he says you tried to intimidate him, saying, "I'm going to make your life a living hell both in the courtroom and out of the courtroom." Yet you knew he was telling the truth, right Lance? So why threaten him?
8. Greg LeMond, a three-time Tour de France champion, once raised the following hypothetical question: "If Lance's story is true, it's the greatest comeback in the history of sport. If it's not, it's the greatest fraud." The allegation is that you heard that and decided to use your influence with Trek bikes to drop its association with LeMond's brand. The company even went to court to end a long-term contract. "Greg's public comments hurt the LeMond brand and the Trek brand," a company official said at the time. What comment? Wondering about something that was true? The move cost LeMond millions. Did you try to ruin him financially simply for spite?
9. We've just scratched the surface on people you pushed around. There are more victims in your wake. Do you want me to continue with the others?
18 January 2013, 08:46 AM
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Very true. as a former cyclist this saddens me.Its a great sport but it keeps getting dragged down by cheaters like this. makes me wonder what the authorities are doing. Yes,hes been stripped of his victories but what sort of drugs was he on that enabled him to escape detection notonce but seven times. Or was he not tested? Ifind that hard to believe. Its not good for the sport ,especially after the success in the Olympics, Very sad for sport as a whole
18 January 2013, 09:01 AM
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as I said 6 months ago he is a psychopath (look up the definition, you don't have to weld a knife to fit the profile)
and simply got away with it using bully boy tactics, the collusion of the sports governing body and the general public's utter stupidity
people where spouting the same Lance PR line, "never failed a drug test and the most tested athlete of all time" as little as 4 months ago
it was bullsh1t, he did and he wasn't
he just ran out of road when the FBI got involved
still the Americans love redemption -- the country is built on it
and simply got away with it using bully boy tactics, the collusion of the sports governing body and the general public's utter stupidity
people where spouting the same Lance PR line, "never failed a drug test and the most tested athlete of all time" as little as 4 months ago
it was bullsh1t, he did and he wasn't
he just ran out of road when the FBI got involved
still the Americans love redemption -- the country is built on it
Last edited by hodgy0_2; 18 January 2013 at 11:15 AM.
18 January 2013, 09:45 AM
#18
I enjoy your sense of humour.
I agree, this whole subject seems to be taken all a little too seriously by many on here.
All a bit "Holier than thou" for my liking.
Perhaps "To err is human, to forgive is divine" should be their Leitmotif?
I agree, this whole subject seems to be taken all a little too seriously by many on here.
All a bit "Holier than thou" for my liking.
Perhaps "To err is human, to forgive is divine" should be their Leitmotif?
18 January 2013, 09:59 AM
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Can't see what all the fuss is about to be honest. We knew he did it, as did most of the others of his era. He lied, yes, but so did the others as well.
18 January 2013, 10:11 AM
#20
Not quite 'finding a fiver'.
18 January 2013, 10:29 AM
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So, knowing all this , are the relevant authorities going to throw the book at him? athletes who do this should be made an example of,not just given a slap on the wrist
18 January 2013, 02:31 PM
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That is the kind of attitude which could destroy this country and all it and any kind of sport stands for. There is no way you can justify it.
Armstrong has admitted all his doping offences and the shame is that he does not consider it to be anything much to regret.
Deliberately cheating in such a way makes any kind of competition mean absolutely nothing. The fact that it was endemic in cycling as he says does not justify the practice of using illegal drugs in any way. The reputation of cycling competition is now totally undermined, it may even be ignored by the general public in future.
I think that Armstrong should be well and truly held up as an example of an unsporting disgrace andf that he should be very heavily punished for his actions.
Les
18 January 2013, 03:20 PM
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The whole thing has been turned into a media circus by Winfrey and I am now even more heartily sick of hearing about him. He cheated in a massive way so why are we giving him the time oif day? The sport is damaged beyond repair as most people just can't take it seriously any more and who can blame them?
18 January 2013, 03:22 PM
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I am not into cycling as a sport in the slightest, so forgive me if I am wrong. But from what I have read/been told, 99% of them were using performance enhancing drugs anyway? 
Even he did, to come back from cancer and win by such a margin required super human effort and skill. I don't put it all down to drugs at all.
He has still achieved a lot in his life that I respect him for.
Even he did, to come back from cancer and win by such a margin required super human effort and skill. I don't put it all down to drugs at all.
He has still achieved a lot in his life that I respect him for.
19 January 2013, 12:12 AM
#27
If he wanted to take drugs and the rest of them were taking drugs then they were cheating nobody but themselves. to ruin the lives of others by denying the truth and actively pursuing them legally makes him scum in my eyes. Beating cancer does not make him a good man, it just makes him a lucky b*stard.
19 January 2013, 03:55 AM
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Pretty much what i said. It's rife. Some take the p!ss, others just bend the rules.
19 January 2013, 08:14 AM
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If he wanted to take drugs and the rest of them were taking drugs then they were cheating nobody but themselves. to ruin the lives of others by denying the truth and actively pursuing them legally makes him scum in my eyes. Beating cancer does not make him a good man, it just makes him a lucky b*stard.
It was not really the drugs, a lot where doing it, but crucially some were not
And he personally destroyed their hopes and dreams via every possible means he could, and got enjoyment in doing so
And his total inability to own upto his cheating until he could do it in a controlled manner of his own choosing
And yet again comments on this thread confirm and reinforce my views on the great British Public
Last edited by hodgy0_2; 19 January 2013 at 08:19 AM.
