Armstrong doped, others cope

Finally, the truth is out.

After spending more than a decade in denial, even seeking judicial action against those who revealed his true face, Lance Armstrong has come clean about using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) during his prolific cycling career. In a two-night, tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey Jan. 17 and 18, Armstrong described in detail how he and other teammates used drugs and avoided positive test results from the mid-90’s until 2005.

Before his interview with Winfrey, Armstrong had consistently denied allegations by the media, as well as his teammates, that he had used PEDs to win an unprecedented seven Tour de France titles in a row. He did not just deny these allegations — he was defiant.

He attacked anyone who dared to question the legitimacy of his accomplishments, such as The Sunday Times, a United Kingdom newspaper that implied he may have doped. He called Emma O’Reilly, who served as the team masseuse for Armstrong’s U.S. Postal cycling squad, derogatory names that we cannot even print here. He lied — under oath, mind you — when inquired about his drug use after his former teammate Frankie Andreu and Andreu’s wife Betsy testified against him in 2006.

When Winfrey asked Armstrong about whether he sued O’Reilly for her comments, Armstrong’s response revealed just how much trouble he had spent defending his name.

“To be honest, Oprah, we sued so many people I don’t even know. I’m sure we did.”

It is hard to fathom the size of the web of lies that Armstrong weaved, and the sad fact is that he is not done deceiving. The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), who published the 1,000-page investigative report on Armstrong’s drug use, said that Armstrong has still not come completely clean. Armstrong told Winfrey he did not use PEDs during his return to the Tour de France in 2009 and 2010.

“His blood tests in 2009, 2010 — expert reports based on the variation of his blood values. From those tests, (there is a) one-in-a-million chance that it was due to something other than doping,” USADA’s CEO Travis Tygart told 60 Minutes in an interview that aired Jan. 27.

When will Armstrong stop?

Armstrong told Winfrey that he was not sure why he came clean now. People will speculate as to his reason, but the question is whether Armstrong was remorseful that he cheated or just upset that he got caught.

In November, after receiving his ban from the International Cycling Union based on the USADA report, a defiant Armstrong posted a picture on Twitter of himself relaxing at his home under his Tour de France yellow jerseys — jerseys whose meaning had disappeared with the removal of his seven titles.

Was his confession a quick change of heart, or merely another tool for Armstrong to use?

USADA’s investigation was followed by a ban on Armstrong from competing in any internationally-sanctioned event, including Armstrong’s most recent passion: marathons.

“Would I like to run the Chicago Marathon when I’m 50? I would love to compete, but that isn’t the reason why I’m doing this,” Armstrong said during his confession. “It might not be the most popular answer, but I think I deserve it, maybe not right now, but I think I deserve it.”

I beg to differ, Lance.

You know who deserves something? How about Chris Basson, a former French cyclist who competed beside Armstrong in the Tour? Other riders ostracized Basson, who never doped, after he wrote a column in 1999 concerning doping in the sport. The movement to shun Basson was led by Armstrong, who confronted Basson during a race, threatened him and told him to get out of the sport. We will never know how Basson would have fared against an even playing field, but someone who stayed clean in an era of cheating deserves to be vindicated.

You know who deserves something? Livestrong, the nonprofit organization for cancer research that Armstrong founded and once served as the chairman for, has recently announced that their 2013 budget is nearly 11 percent less than it was in 2012. Livestrong asked Armstrong to leave his position in last October.

“That was the lowest point,” Armstrong said.

Perhaps, but think about how the workers at Livestrong, which has raised more than $500 million since 1997, feel. Now they must continue without the man who was once the face of the organization. They have the unfair task of escaping a lie they had no part in fabricating.

The same process is facing many others, people who made truthful claims, only to be sued, insulted and ostracized.

Certainly, we would be wrong not to forgive Armstrong, but we would be naïve to forget the path he left behind as well. It is time we remember those who truly deserve our attention. It is time we let his name fade away to where it would have been had he not cheated — in anonymity.

Congratulations, Lance. You have earned it.