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2013/03: Should Lance Armstrong be allowed to return to international competition?
Introduction to the media issue
Video clip at right:an August, 2012 Wall Street Journal channel discussion on the news that Lance Armstrong had announced that he would no longer fight doping allegations. If you cannot see this clip, it will be because video is blocked by your network. To view the clip, access from home or from a public library, or from another network which allows viewing of video clips.
What they said...
'It was Armstrong, the evil American, who single-handedly thwarted the pure motives and saintly innocence of a pristine world, forever tarnishing the European love of competitive cycling.
Please. What puerile and unmitigated rubbish. Lance is no more than a scapegoat'
'six_o'clock', a commentator published in The Roar
'The evidence is...clear that Armstrong had ultimate control over ... the doping culture of his team'
United States Anti-doping Agency report of October 10, 2012
The issue at a glance
On January 17 and January 18, 2013, two interviews with Lance Armstrong were telecast around the world. Armstrong is a seven-time winner of cycling's most prestigious international competition, the Tour de France. Last year, he had his titles stripped from him for taking prohibited substances.
The interviews were conducted by Oprah Winfrey, the American media proprietor and talk show host.
In the second interview to be telecast, Armstrong indicated that he would like to compete again, if not in international cycling, then in triathlons. He did not claim that his lifetime suspension from all competitions was 'unfair'; however, he did note that it was 'different' to the penalties imposed on others. He expressed his regret at being given a 'life sentence'.
Armstrong's critics have argued that he has simply used the interviews as a platform from which to attempt to return to some form of sporting competition and that his misdeeds are so great that he should never be given such an opportunity.
Others have suggested that the penalty inflicted on Armstrong is excessive and that at least as much fault lies with cycling's regulatory bodies as with Armstrong.