LIVESTRONG must stay strong after Armstrong

Life changed forever for Lance Armstrong on Oct. 2, 1996, the date that Armstrong found out he had stage three testicular cancer. Soon after, he learned that the cancer had spread to his lungs, abdomen and brain. Doctors gave him less than a 50 percent chance of survival.

The story of what happened next has been told by countless people over the years. Armstrong not only beat the cancer, which went into remission in December 1996, but he also beat everyone in the field of cycling by winning the Tour de France seven consecutive years from 1999 to 2005. Winning the Tour de France just once is enough to make someone’s career a success, and Armstrong’s domination of the 23-day race that stretches over 2,000 miles was hardly believable.

Now, it seems his achievement was indeed unbelievable. Armstrong now has a few more dark days circled on his calendar.

After years of bringing charges against him, the United States Anti-Doping Agency filed what turned out to be their final litigation against Armstrong Aug. 20, 2012. Years of fighting took their toll on Armstrong’s livelihood — and undoubtedly his wallet — and he announced he would no longer fight the charges levied against him.
Just like that, his seven Tour de France titles were gone, his legacy was tainted, and many people’s opinion of him lowered. The aftermath of the controversy was just as ugly as predicted.

Anheuser-Busch and Nike, among other major companies, decided to sever their ties with Armstrong on Oct. 17, removing him as a spokesman.

“Due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that Lance Armstrong participated in doping and misled Nike for more than a decade, it is with great sadness that we have terminated our contract with him,” according to a company statement.

Nike also said that they do not condone the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sports, an assertion that seems to serve as a company indictment of Armstrong’s guilt.
But Armstrong himself tried to take the biggest step away from the controversy, removing himself as chairman from the company he founded, LIVESTRONG.

“To spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career, I will conclude my chairmanship,” Armstrong said on the foundation’s website.

Armstrong started the LIVESTRONG Foundation in 1997 in the months following his final treatments for cancer. Throughout the years, the organization has helped over 2.5 million people pay for cancer treatments. According to the company website, the foundation has raised over $470 million, with over 80 percent going toward helping those inflicted with cancer. The company is most recognizable for their famous plastic yellow wristbands, which have become a sign of hope to millions.

Now, as Armstrong steps away, the foundation stands at a crossroads. For years, Armstrong has been the singular face of the company. Others will have to step up. It is time for us to see the hairless heads of those riddled with the disease as the true fighters, the new symbol of toughness for the organization.

In the days that followed the announcement of Armstrong’s punishment, donations to Armstrong’s foundation went through the roof. Armstrong reported on Twitter that money was coming in 25 times more than usual. The company’s chief executive told ESPN that the Friday after charges were levied against Armstrong, the organization brought in $78,000 compared to the typical average of $3,000 a day.

As a nation, we cannot let those days become an outlier, an anomaly that comes and goes. LIVESTRONG needs to be bigger than Armstrong. Cancer does not stop for a slew of allegations in a courtroom, it does not quit because a few sponsors step away, and it will not tire now that Armstrong is no longer the head of LIVESTRONG.

We may never know if Armstrong took performance-enhancing drugs. The evidence seems to dictate that unless most of his teammates had a personal vendetta against him and cunningly collaborated an elaborate web of lies, Armstrong’s impossible performance was, indeed, impossible.

But no matter how you see the situation, we all must agree that Armstrong did do something right, and we must take advantage of that.

“I’ve been better and I’ve been worse,” Armstrong was quoted saying by LIVESTRONG’s president Doug Ulman.

Armstrong can have his ups and downs, but keep his foundation living strong.