The United States Anti-Doping Agency accused Lance Armstrong, seven time winner of the Tour de France, of doping. In other words, Armstrong was accused of using illegal substances to enhance his performance as well as trafficking them in June 2012. At first, Armstrong denied all the allegations. However, on January 4, 2013, after an ugly and heated ongoing battle, Lance Armstrong finally gave in and admitted to doping himself.
“When I found out that the accusations of Lance Armstrong doping himself were true, I wasn’t that surprised but instead disappointed. I mean, after winning seven medals of Tour de France and word getting out of him doping himself, it was pretty obvious. I’m just disappointed at the fact that he let all those people down,” senior Joe Cachia said.
After years of denial, Armstrong appeared on Oprah where he announced his use of illegal substances to enhance his performance. During the interview Armstrong felt a great deal of remorse toward his staff, fans, and to the sport of cycling itself.
“He used to be one of my husband’s best friends and because he wouldn’t go along with the doping, he got kicked to the side. Lance could have a positive impact if he tells the truth on everything. He’s got to be completely honest,” Betsy Andreu, the wife of Armstrong’s former teammate, Frankie Andreu, said.
After the truth came out of his drug use, Armstrong was stripped of all his medals. The anti doping agency banned Armstrong from the sport for life unless he came clean. Instead Armstrong will be banned for eight years.
“The fact that Lance Armstrong lied for so many years and tried to cover it up is just so vile and disappointing. People should take this seriously because a lot of the things he did were illegal. He shouldn’t get away with it. He disgraced his fans and the sport itself,” junior Hilary Berrios said.