Mr. Hakujin Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 (edited) Full article here. "With stunning swiftness, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said Thursday night it will strip Lance Armstrong of his unprecedented seven Tour de France titles after he dropped his fight against drug charges that threatened his legacy as one of the greatest cyclists of all time. Travis Tygart, USADA's chief executive, said Armstrong would also be hit with a lifetime ban on Friday. And under the World Anti-Doping Code, he would lose the bronze medal from the 2000 Olympics as well as any awards, event titles and cash earnings. Armstrong, who retired last year, effectively dropped his fight by declining to enter USADA's arbitration process — his last option — because he said he was weary of fighting accusations that have dogged him for years. He has consistently pointed to the hundreds of drug tests he passed as proof of his innocence while piling up Tour titles from 1999 to 2005. ''There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, `Enough is enough.' For me, that time is now,'' Armstrong said. He called the USADA investigation an ''unconstitutional witch hunt.'' ''I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999,'' he said. ''The toll this has taken on my family and my work for our foundation and on me leads me to where I am today — finished with this nonsense.'' USADA reacted quickly and treated Armstrong's decision as an admission of guilt, hanging the label of drug cheat on an athlete who was a hero to thousands for overcoming life-threatening testicular cancer and for his foundation's support for cancer research. ''It is a sad day for all of us who love sport and athletes,'' Tygart said. ''It's a heartbreaking example of win at all costs overtaking the fair and safe option. There's no success in cheating to win.'' Tygart said the agency had the power to strip the Tour titles, though Armstrong disputed that. ''USADA cannot assert control of a professional international sport and attempt to strip my seven Tour de France titles,'' he said. ''I know who won those seven Tours, my teammates know who won those seven Tours, and everyone I competed against knows who won those seven Tours.'' Still to be heard from was the sport's governing body, the International Cycling Union, which had backed Armstrong's legal challenge to USADA's authority and in theory could take the case before the international Court of Arbitration for Sport. Tygart said UCI was ''bound to recognize our decision and impose it'' as a signer of the World Anti-Doping Code." Edited August 24, 2012 by Mr. Hakujin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panch Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 This is bullshit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceManML Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 (edited) Lance is my boy.. But I didnt know he had that many enemies like his little apprentice.. I'm not gonna stop wearing his bracelet Edit: Damn!. They stripped him of justvabout everything... Edited August 24, 2012 by IceManML Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the division of joy Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 If proven to be guilty, he won't be the first cyclist to have been found to be as such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iambaytor Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 So despite them having no proof, he's "guilty." The anti-doping board have finally beat down the man who conquers 7 kinds of cancer before breakfast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alive she cried Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 (edited) Wait what? I thought it was common knowledge that he was he a dope fiend, I suppose it's like us and Michelle Smith. Anyway, pretty sure he's stepping down so that any iota of doubt isn't removed link But even without a positive test, the antidoping agency appeared set to move forward with arbitration. It claimed to have more than 10 eyewitnesses who would testify that Armstrong used banned blood transfusions, the blood booster EPO, testosterone and other drugs to win the Tour. Some of Armstrong’s closest teammates, including George Hincapie — one of the most respected American riders — were also expected to testify against him. The antidoping agency also said it had blood test results of Armstrong’s from 2009 and 2010 that were consistent with doping. Edited August 24, 2012 by alive she cried 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thelogan Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 Yeah, cmon guys. If you're pissed that an "innocent man" is being targeted, you're backing the wrong horse. Now, if you're pissed because this is absurd, I'm right there with ya. He still had to work his ass off. We should just have an Unlimited Class in all sporting events. Did you see that gold medal gymnast from the '50's? That shit was boring as fuck before science could turn people into superhumans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceManML Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 Is it actually within this org's rights to strip his titles? The way I see it, why let you and your family's sacrifices be in vain if you've already spent 2 years fighting (whatever it may be)? See it through. On the other hand, you dont wanna spend the rest of your life trying to defend what apparently, your enemies accuse you of... You really dont want to give those ppl the time of day. Regardless, "I disagree!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panch Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 Man, how awesome would it be if the sporting world said "fuck it" and just allowed everything? Fucking superheroes, for real! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benz Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 Yeah, yeah he did the juice a bit. Alex Rodriguez is still the biggest douche in sports ever so have a nice day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Hakujin Posted August 25, 2012 Author Share Posted August 25, 2012 Yeah, the fact such a thing as the "USADA" even exits is an example of mismanaged government spending at work. "Uh, we need less regulation on Wall St. and w/ the banks, but pro-sports? No fucking way! We gotta keep those people in line!" Wait what? I thought it was common knowledge that he was he a dope fiend... Nah, over here it's pretty much common knowledge that he's awesome. Like Baytor wrote he's badass: beats cancer, fucks supermodels and rock stars, somehow makes rubber bracelets fashionable, and does it all w/ one nut. Also, 76% of Americans think he's the only person to ever ride a bicycle competitively.* *Stats provided by FOX News, aka I made it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 ASC didn't say anything wrong, though. it's pretty accepted that many/most pro athletes use such means, it's just the hammer coming down on a sacred cow this time that's got everyone fussy. if it was a huge d-bag that deserved it like, say, Jose Canseco, no one'd give a shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceManML Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 Agreed. A lot of analysts/journalists think it was "strategic" that lance made that statement and "renounced his efforts in fighting the good fight". And this is simply to maintain his image, blabla.. However, if you look at any polls on this, the majority of ppl still believe in his reputation. But at the same time cycling is a filthy fookin sport yo. Lance was simply the best survivor.. Ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 to all the Lance fans here: French TV show claims American agency retested Armstrong's samples Stade 2, the weekly television sports show by France 2, claims that the American Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) is in possession of blood samples from Lance Armstrong, which they have retested and have now come back positive for performance-enhancing drugs. A reporter from France 2, Nicolas Geay, claimed he had exclusive information from a source, according to which he "could now reveal" that blood samples taken earlier during Armstrong's career had been retested under the authority of USADA and "ultimately came back positive". USADA is expected to send the final report to the UCI in two weeks time, according to French television, and make it public at the same time in order to put the governing body of the sport under pressure to ratify their life-time ban for Armstrong. Armstrong did not want to comment when approached by French television in Montreal, Canada, last week, where he was invited as a guest speaker at the World Cancer Congress. He has always denied taking performance enhancing drugs but chose not to contest USADA's charges, leading to a life-time ban and all results from August 1, 1998 being stripped from his palmares. Armstrong went on record to later state that in his eyes he was still a seven time Tour de France winner. "retests? that's a conspiracy!" nope It's not really suspicious, they didn't even have a test for EPO in the 1999 and 2000 tours. They bust people for samples that previously tested negative all the time. They caught 5 Beijing Olympic and 5 Athens winners that tested negatively in 2008 and 2004 with a new EPO test in 2012. This was in July of this year: http://nz.sports.yahoo.com/rugby/new...athens-doping/ your boy dopes, so this was legit - make peace with it. that said: just with any major sport, so does everyone else: If officials awarded Lance Armstrong's 2005 Tour De France title to the next fastest finisher who has never been linked to doping, they'd have to give it to the 23rd place finisher. Source: http://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearne...mstrongs_2005/ we should prolly make a thread about this one one day - im at a point where if we just wanna make another tier for metahumans or whatever (like panch and logan said), id be okay with it, instead of preteneding. technology's gonna reach a point for internal enhancement where this kinda shit is unavoidable anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceManML Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Let's just say in a nutshell I agree with the analysts. I believe he doped, but I'll still wear his bracelet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 yeah, i dont see a reason not too, either - if you're inspired by his accomplishments and cancer-beating and all that, i don't think a whole lot's gonna change, especailly given how common this stuff is, from the looks of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 guess those "rat bastards" had the right idea The report cited anonymous sources and said Armstrong was considering a confession to help restore his athletic career in triathlons and running events at age 41. Armstrong was been banned for life from cycling and cannot compete in athletic events sanctioned by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and the World Anti-Doping Agency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Meanwhile, Armstrong's assertion that he did not take performance-enhancing drugs after his seventh and final Tour victory in 2005 has been dismissed by the president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). In his interview with Winfrey, the American maintained he was clean when he made a comeback in 2009, 3.5 years after retiring. However, WADA chief John Fahey told Britain's Daily Telegraph on Friday: "The evidence from USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) is that Armstrong's blood tests show variations in his blood that show with absolute certainty he was doping after 2005." dude lied in an interview about coming clean...wow, class right there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrizzle Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Yeah, yeah. He's a hero. You're missing the point: there's a dude named Joop. JOOP? JOOOOOP! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the division of joy Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Stephen Roche Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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