Lance Armstrong Drops Fight Against Doping Charges

[Sdiver]

I'm not big into cycling, but IMO this sucks.

After more than a decade of outrunning accusations that he had doped during his celebrated cycling career, Lance Armstrong, one of the best known and most accomplished athletes in recent history, surrendered on Thursday, etching a dark mark on his legacy by ending his fight against charges that he used performance-enhancing drugs.

Armstrong, who won the Tour de France an unprecedented seven straight times, said on Thursday night that he would not continue to contest the charges levied against him by the United States Anti-Doping Agency, which claimed that he doped and was one of the ringleaders of systematic doping on his Tour-winning teams.

He continued to deny ever doping, calling the antidoping agency’s case against him “an unconstitutional witch hunt” and saying the process it followed to deal with his matter was “one-sided and unfair.”

“There comes a point in every man’s life when he has to say, ‘Enough is enough,’ “ Armstrong said in a statement. “For me, that time is now.”

Armstrong, who turns 41 next month, said he would not contest the charges because it had taken too much of toll on his family and his work for his cancer foundation, saying he was “finished with this nonsense.”

Armstrong’s decision, according to the World Anti-Doping Code, means he will be stripped of his seven Tour titles, the bronze medal he won at the 2000 Olympics and all other titles, awards and money he won from August 1998 forward. It also means he will be barred for life from competing, coaching or having any official role with any Olympic sport or other sport that follows the World Anti-Doping Code.

“It’s a sad day for all of us who love sport and our athletic heroes,” Travis Tygart, chief executive of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, said. “It’s yet another heartbreaking example of how the win-at-all-costs culture, if left unchecked, will overtake fair, safe and honest competition.”

Like in many other high-profile doping cases — including that of the Olympic sprinter Marion Jones and other athletes involved in the sprawling Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative case, known as Balco — Tygart and the antidoping agency were basing their case not on a positive drug test but rather on other supporting evidence. Armstrong seized on that in his statement.

He said again and again that he had never tested positive — though he did test positive at the 1999 Tour for a corticosteroid, but produced a backdated doctor’s prescription for it.

Armstrong also said the case against him was flimsy without that physical evidence.

“Regardless of what Travis Tygart says, there is zero physical evidence to support his outlandish and heinous claims,” Armstrong said. “The only physical evidence here is the hundreds of controls I have passed with flying colors.”

But even without a positive test, the antidoping agency appeared set to move forward with arbitration. It claimed to have more than 10 eyewitnesses who would testify that Armstrong used banned blood transfusions, the blood booster EPO, testosterone and other drugs to win the Tour. Some of Armstrong’s closest teammates, including George Hincapie — one of the most respected American riders — also were expected to testify against him.

The antidoping agency also said it had blood test results of Armstrong’s from 2009 and 2010 that were consistent with doping.

snip

Here's the rest of the story .....

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/24/sp...&smid=fb-share

[rwt_bkk]

You would think after 500 tests they would give up. Makes you think someone is making a name here. Don't blame Armstrong for not pursuing it, lost time and money fighting a government agency with limitless resources.

[Dusty]

I'd have handed the medals back in disgust long before this.

[booker]

Originally Posted by rwt_bkk

You would think after 500 tests they would give up. Makes you think someone is making a name here. Don't blame Armstrong for not pursuing it, lost time and money fighting a government agency with limitless resources.

I agree 100%. Their plan all along was to harrass him into submission. If he doped, then so did Indurain and all the others. I don't recall them going after Indurain in such a fashion after his 5 wins. Probably doesn't help that Lance is from Texas.

[bandycpa]

13 years of having to respond to allegation after allegation. I, too, am surprised Lance didn't quit long ago.

But, from everything else we've seen about him competitively, that just isn't in his nature.

He's still the champ as far as I'm concerned.

Originally Posted by rwt_bkk

You would think after 500 tests they would give up. Makes you think someone is making a name here. Don't blame Armstrong for not pursuing it, lost time and money fighting a government agency with limitless resources.

The USADA is no a government agency.

[Pete]

The folks who believed he doped will still believe he doped.

The folks who believed he didn't will believe him.

He passed all the tests he was given. Both during the season and when he was just eating supper somewhere during the off season. For those who don't know - the anti doping controls are a pain in the ass for the big name riders. The testers can show up any time, any place and demand a blood sample. Which is how they develop a riders blood passport so they can check if it's way off during a race.

Go into arbitration with the sour grapes folks who have an ax to grind? He basically flipped them the bird, said "F... You, do what you want" and plans to get on with his life - which is a lot better than the sour grapes crowd.

[Tuukka]

So a great athlete is being stripped his legendary achievements, without a single positive doping result?

[Guymullins]

I understand the French were hounding him for years. They were incensed an American was winning their race so consistently. They made his life a misery. When did the US authorities start hounding him?

[Dusty]

Originally Posted by Guymullins

I understand the French were hounding him for years. They were incensed an American was winning their race so consistently. They made his life a misery. When did the US authorities start hounding him?

When it became politically expedient.

[Hand]

From their website

USADA began operations Oct. 1, 2000. Its board consisted of nine members, five of whom came from outside the Olympic family and four of whom (two each) were elected by the Athlete Advisory Council (AAC) and National Governing Body (NGB) Council.

USADA was given full authority to execute a comprehensive national anti-doping program encompassing testing, adjudication, education, and research, and to develop programs, policies, and procedures in each of those areas.

In 2003 the Board further extended its independence by choosing to consider recommendations from the AAC and NGBs, but ultimately electing its own members. USADA is still an evolving organization, and its history is still being written.

Yikes...


And for some contrast as to why <source>:

Before you throw away your Postal jersey and Discovery bibs, here are a few facts from a very interesting article written by Tim Dockery from the web site Opposing Views.

A similar investigation led by the United States Department of Justice concluded in February, 2012. After almost two years of investigation, and millions of US tax dollars spent researching Armstrong’s past, the USDOJ decided there wasn’t enough evidence to continue the investigation.

Despite the officially sounding name, it turns out the “United States Anti-doping Agency is not a part of the federal government. Although it receives almost 70 percent of its funding from the federal grants, the USADA is a government program masquerading as a non-profit organization. This non-profit status allows it to investigate and prosecute athletes without affording them the constitutional and due process protections required of other federal agencies. This status also allows it to prosecute athletes with a lower burden of proof than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard that would have been required in the previous investigation by the USDOJ. Finally, it allows a situation where the same man, Mr. Travis T. Tygart (The CEO)is allowed to serve as Prosecutor, Jury and Judge in the investigation of Lance Armstrong.

Armstrong is being tried and more or less convicted by a federally funded “club.”

He had his day in “court” and nothing came out of it. For some reason, the USADA acting as a group of doping vigilantes, has stepped, lit the touches, thrown on their hoods and has come after Armstrong.

We just can't have success these days. If someone builds something, someone else has to take credit for it or steal it. If they can't do either, they take it away and leave a smoldering crater.

Whether or not he 'doped' (and countless random tests have proven as scientifically as possible that he didn't), I admire him and his achievements.

[sf11b_p]

I believe the Anti-doping Agency has no authority to remove Armstrongs awards. The organizations which issued them will have to decide what, if any, action they will take.

[Sigaba]

FWIW, attached to this post is the ruling issued on 20 August 2012 by Judge Sam Sparks that, ah, er, sparked Mr. Armstrong's decision. Among the interesting observations in the ruling is Judge Sparks's point that Mr. Armstrong agreed to arbitration.

MOO, it is telling that Mr. Armstrong, facing the possibility of not winning in arbitration has decided to try his case in the court of public opinion.

[stfesta]

The USADA does not have the authority to strip Lance Armstrong of anything. They can only recommend to the international governing body of cycling (I don't know who that is) strip him of his titles.

They have already said they are going to wait and see what the investigation brings out.

The majority of the "proof" is coming from eye witnesses that swear they have seen Lance use PED in the past. This is from cyclists that have been caught for doing the same thing Lance is accused of. I am under the assumption that these witnesses are getting some type of immunity for their testimony. After all Lance is the White Whale.

After passing over 500 drug tests, it comes down to what a group of proven cheaters say? That doesn't seem right. He is/has been the most drug tested man in all of sports, that's not an exaggeration, that is a fact.

So, I have to ask, is the reverse true? If I, for instance, fail over 500 drug tests can I have 10 people I use to know testify and swear that I didn't do it? If so, can I have 7 Tour de France titles?

Every sport has it's own governing body, cycling is no different. That governing body found him innocent. What/who give the US government the right to go forward with this investigation?

How much of OUR money has been spent on this and others like it? Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Marion Jones? The list goes on and on and will continue to do so.

If I am Lance Armstrong, I would wipe my ass with every single title, give them back, and then post it on YouTube.
Just my $0.02
sf

[afchic]

Originally Posted by Sigaba

FWIW, attached to this post is the ruling issued on 20 August 2012 by Judge Sam Sparks that, ah, er, sparked Mr. Armstrong's decision. Among the interesting observations in the ruling is Judge Sparks's point that Mr. Armstrong agreed to arbitration.

MOO, it is telling that Mr. Armstrong, facing the possibility of not winning in arbitration has decided to try his case in the court of public opinion.

Sig, he has been fighting these accustation for years. He has continually come out on top, yet that hasn't been enough for some folks. I am of the same view as others here, I wonder what took him so long to say piss off? How much does one have to put into a defense, that no matter the outcome, he is going to be seen as a doper? How much money should he continue spending on unfounded accusations? Over 500 test and not one positive?

I agree, wipe his ass with the wins and hand them back. He will always be seen as one of the good guys, in my book anyway. His latest decision makes him more so.