Mandy's Blog

The story was big when it broke in 2012, Lance Armstrong - the first million dollar man with a record seven Tour de France titles… and survivor of a very public battle with cancer - caught, in what became, the doping scandal of the century, Armstrong named, the greatest fraud in sporting history. Screening on Rialto tonight, Stop at Nothing: The Lance Armstrong Story unravels the fairytale which Armstrong perpetuated over 20 years. In the end, his use of performance enhancing drugs and the lengths he went to cover his tracks, exposed.

Texas born, Armstrong began running and swimming at 10-years-old, he became a professional triathlete at the age of 16 and was the national sprint course triathlon champion in ’89 and ’90. In ’89 the U.S Olympic development team invited him to train as a cyclist – his strongest event, as well as his favourite. In 1990 he qualified for the junior world team and placed the best time of any American since ’76 in the World Championship Road Race. In the years that followed, his placing in competitions was up and down, but one thing was certain, the guy had talent. The showstopper came in 1993 when he won cycling’s ‘Triple Crown’ - the Thrift Drug Classic, the Kmart West Virginia Classic and the CoreStates Race (the U.S Professional Championship), he came in 2nd at the Tour DuPont and won his most important race yet, the World Road Race Championship in Oslo, Norway, to become the youngest person to ever win the contest.



In 1996, Armstrong, then, 7th ranked, signed a major lucrative deal with France’s, Team Cofidis. Despite suffering setbacks such as bronchitis and fatigue that year, the announcement in October that he had testicular cancer was met in disbelief and shock by the sporting world. Tumours had spread to his abdomen, lungs and lymph nodes and when doctors found tumours on his brain, he was given a 40 percent chance of survival. After several aggressive rounds of chemo and success in removing the tumours on his brain, Armstrong was confirmed cancer free in February, 1997. The Lance Armstrong Foundation was established, the then 25-year-old Texan became a hero to the cancer community. He became the figure of inspiration and hope to many and celebrities were quick to endorse him - he raised millions for his charity, not to mention the publicity he got. Despite, Cofidis cancelling Armstrong’s contract and little to no, support from sponsors, Armstrong maintained he could make a comeback and was adamant he was going to race competitively again.

Perhaps, the most prestigious of all the races, is the Tour de France. The 21-day Tour, that first began in 1903, is the oldest in the world, and covers 3,500 kms of ground, and though the race route changes each year, the finish line always ends on the Champs-Elysees in Paris – a grand sight, if ever you saw one! The tour is important for fans, millions line the route, some having camped out for days, just to get the best view of their fav cyclists from the sideline. Armstrong went on to win seven consecutive Tour de France titles, from 1999 to 2005.

Surprisingly, the first instance of doping doesn’t begin with Armstrong. Doping has plagued the Tour de France since way waaaay back. In 1904, riders consumed alcohol or ether to numb the pain of their injuries. In 1924, the Pelissier brothers got busted for cocaine and British cyclist, Tom Simpson died uphilling it at Mont Ventoux, after taking amphetamine during the ’67 Tour. The first scandal, that involved erythropoietin or EPO, came in ’98 when Willy Voet was investigated and he and his team mates arrested, in what was named the 'Tour of Shame’. EPO, testosterone and blood transfusion, among other banned practices, has remained a big problem with players in the sport and competitive events ever since. As cycling is an endurance sport, drug pushers may forever haunt athletes. Drug doctor, Michele Ferrari, was said to have first introduced Armstrong to the scientific use of performance enhancing drugs. Journalist, David Walsh, who spent years trying to take both Ferrari and Armstrong down, talks of their relationship and in his own words, “you keep doing your job as Frankenstein and Ill be the best monster you’ve ever created."



Controversy around doping has surrounded Armstrong since his first Tour de France win in 1999. However - and, as thoroughly covered in Stop at Nothing - despite all the information and evidence out there, Armstrong, maintained his innocence throughout and even threatened anyone who said otherwise. As lawyer, Jeffrey M. Tillotson said, “that we were litigating with someone who would do anything to prevail, was scary.” Armstrong even managed to get a Federal Investigation shut down, which perhaps shows how much power he had and just how manipulative he was. With the perseverance of former friends and teammates, like Frankie and Betsy Andreu - who was the first to expose Armstrong - it wouldn’t be until, a United States Anti-Doping Agency investigation in 2012, would conclude that Armstrong had used performance enhancing drugs over the course of his career. Furthermore, the agency named him the ringleader in, “the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen.” Revealed, a fraud, Armstrong was striped of all his victories from 1998 and given a lifetime ban from competing in professional sports. In early 2013, in a ‘tell-all’ interview with Oprah Winfrey, Armstrong confessed allegations were true, admitting to use of banned substances. 



I read an interesting article by Brian Lowry at Variety when I researched for this blog. He talked about how, filmmaker, Alex Holmes "keeps returning to how desperate people wanted to embrace the inspirational aspects of Armstrong as a cancer survivor who triumphed against overwhelming odds” and how the story captures ‘the collective hunger for heroes’. This is so very true. People believed in Armstrong, they believed in his story - they believed in this man that beat testicular cancer, and came back and won! Why? Because, it gave people hope. We love a fight and we want the underdog to win.

It seems, when it comes to illness, disability or signs of weakness, we turn a blind eye when it comes to issues in ethics. When Andre Agassi - regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time - revealed in his autobiography, Open (2009) that he had struggled with a methamphetamine addiction and had in fact tested positive for the drug in the late ‘90s, many argued, that he should be stripped of his titles. Not much was said or done, in fact, Agassi continues to participate in friendly charity events and enjoys a public profile that sees him contribute to the community as a motivational speaker - he, and wife, Steffi Graf, relish in their ‘golden couple’ rep that still holds. The world cheered when Oscar Pistorius, became the first Paralympics champion to win an able-bodied world track medal at the 2011 Athletics World Champs and again when he crossed the finish line at the 2012 Summer Olympics. In 2013, Pistorius fatally shot his partner, Reeva Steenkamp and after a lengthy murder trial, which found him guilty, he’s set for release next month, after what would be only eight months served behind bars. Support for Pistorius is huge, especially in his home country… I honestly don’t think much damage has been done to his career, the 28-year-old certainly doesn’t think so and has plans to race again.



The Lance Armstrong scandal remains one the media won’t let go of, in fact if you Google the guy right now, he’s front page news somewhere in the world, and so the saga continues. Yep, it seems, we can’t get enough of the him. Armstrong still holds a strong public profile - just check out his social media sites, on twitter, he has close to 4 million followers. Armstrong maintains he's still a cyclist and he’s asking for a second shot at the competitive sport. Opinions vary across the board, but one thing’s for sure, none of us really know how this story will end.

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