Grace White is a college senior who plays first base for Union University, a DII school in Jackson, Tennessee, and is majoring in Journalism. She is the Sports Editor for the Cardinal & Cream, the school’s student publication, and has a younger sister who plays in the Virginia Unity club organization.
In today’s Inside Pitch, Grace presents her thoughts on what young athletes today can learn from the ups and downs that affected the career–and reputation–of a cycling legend and multi-year winner of the Tour de France who was stripped of his titles after he was accused of, and later confessed to, using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs).
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I didn’t even know who Lance Armstrong was until I watched ESPN’s 30 for 30 series LANCE on Disney+.
The thing that caught my eye about the series was the description listed with it:
“Lance Armstrong’s rise and fall was among the most dramatic stories in sports history.”
I’m all about some drama, but I don’t think I was completely prepared for what I would learn from that documentary about a man who quickly went from being one of America’s most beloved athletes to one of its most despised.
Armstrong was a professional cyclist who rose to prominence in the 1990’s with his performances in such renowned competitions as the World Championship, the Clásica de San Sebastián, the Tour DuPont, and the Tour de France, a three-week race composed of over 2,000 miles.
Disaster struck for Armstrong in 1996 when he was diagnosed with metastatic testicular cancer. This cancer could have been fatal; however, with treatment he was able to recover.
At the time, young adults with cancer sort of had a stigma placed on them. It wasn’t something that was talked about, but Armstrong changed that. He decided to create a foundation known as the Lance Armstrong Foundation to help others like him.
Today, that foundation is known as the Livestrong Foundation.
You might think that the cancer would have made Armstrong decide to give up cycling completely, but it did nothing of the sort. He came back and dominated the cycling world, winning the Tour de France every year from 1999 to 2005.
During the time that Armstrong raced and even after he retired, using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs)—otherwise known as doping—was a major topic in the cycling community. Many speculated that Armstrong doped, but he repeatedly and emphatically denied it.
However, in 2012, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) determined that Armstrong had, in fact, doped during his career. Much of the evidence against Armstrong came from cyclists that had been his teammates.
In January 2013, Armstrong did an interview with Oprah and finally admitted that he was guilty of doping.
As a result of the scandal, Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles, lost his sponsors, and had to make several different settlements. I’m surprised I had never heard of it or read anything about it before now because of how big the situation seemed to be.
I definitely don’t condone Armstrong’s doping, but I think there are aspects of his story that athletes today can still learn from.
Oftentimes, athletes are put on pedestals and people look up to them whether the athletes want that or not. These platforms can be used for good or bad as evidenced by Lance Armstrong.
He was the darling of American cycling for years, and in this position, he went from helping those with cancer and showing them there was a reason to hope to crashing down under the weight of one of the biggest doping scandals in sports history.
I believe it’s good for all of us to stop and think about what ideals we want to model and what legacy we want to leave behind. We should all hope to have the impact that Armstrong had at the beginning of his career. Using your fame and fortune to help people and give them hope is one of the best things you can do as long as you are sincere about it, which I would like to believe that Armstrong was.
With regard to softball, I think of all those little girls out there that look up to the high school players that they see playing in their hometowns and the college athletes that they watch on TV and hope to be like some day.
In some respect, we all have our own platforms, whether we realize it or not, and it’s up to us to determine what we do with them. Will we use them for our own benefit, or will we choose to help others?
Will we cower in fear or will we rise to the occasion?
Like it or not, Armstrong is now remembered, not as the cyclist that won seven straight Tour de France titles and created a foundation dedicated to helping those with cancer, but as the man who competed illegally for years by doping.
How do you want to be remembered? It’s up to you, and that decision starts right now because you never know who’s watching.
