His story is meant for the books and has well made it there. Having survived testicular cancer, he went on to win seven prestigious Tour de France titles but that prestige has now been stripped off his name. And it couldn’t be more tragic.
‘Enough is enough’ says Lance Armstrong of his fight against doping charges
The US doping agency has snatched away all those years of fame and glory off of Armstrong on Thursday. All the seven titles that he so proudly carried on will no longer be his. Armstrong had been carrying doping charges as the USADA accused him of using banned substances to help him win races from 1999 to 2005. He had appealed against the decision and the court of war had been going on for quite some time however he has now given up saying that he will not fight any more. He is also imposed with a life-time ban from cycling.
Lance Armstrong says that he is tried of fighting and proving himself innocent. He said that it took a toll on his personal as well as his professional life and he no longer has the will to fight on. He has dropped the case against the USADA. To this the USADA took his surrender as a sign of guilt and imposed heavy punishment on the cyclist. To no longer be able to participate in the sport that gave him his name and recognition comes as the most heartrending news to any athlete.
The statement released by the USADA said: “USADA announced today that Lance Armstrong has chosen not to move forward with the independent arbitration process and as a result has received a lifetime period of ineligibility and disqualification of all competitive results from August 1, 1998 through the present.”
He battled cancer and then came back to stand at the top of his game. Winning seven magnificent titles of Tour de France, Armstrong became an inspirational hope to all those fighting cancer as well as to all those who were not. Today he says that he is done with all the ‘nonsense’ and that he cannot spend his entire life trying to prove himself innocent.
“There comes a point in every man’s life when he has to say ‘enough is enough.’ For me, that time is now.”
Going uphill and downhill can only be tackled with in cycling races, because in real life it literally means giving up your entire career.
Tags: Cycling, Doping Charges, Lance Armstrong, Tour de France, USADA
