After watching the Oprah special with Lance Armstrong, I have to say I left with an interesting array of emotions. Being a former athlete and also just being who I am, there is no way I could ever justify doping or any form of cheating. I was pretty saddened by this entire story, but in taking a step back and thinking about that time in cycling I have to wonder how many others were doing it? Many other cyclists were caught doping and I have never been the type of person to say, "But everyone else did it..." but I do believe that Lance Armstrong was punished much more harshly then the rest.
I know that he represented a much greater cause and the fact that he was the top of the sport and ultimately turned many people onto cycling makes his doping much more of a disappointment then other cyclists who were caught. In no way am I defending him, but I do feel for him and feel that everyone else should have received the same sentence he did if fairness is the moral of the story.
At the end of the day, Lance Armstrong is a person. He has many deep rooted flaws but his fighting spirit definitely impacted many people and served as motivation for other athletes and cancer survivors to push on. While he was stripped of all of his medals and given a death sentence in the world of competing, no one can truly take away what he brought to the sport of cycling. I am sure the sport of cycling will never be the same and drug testing will only begin to intensify but I guess when the level of competition rises, the rules to too.
To those who were inspired by his story and feel let down, remember to keep your passion for whatever it is you do and inspire others along the way. Everyone has the potential to accomplish great things and this has become a lesson to the world. Even if he let down many, he also taught many through is demise. Hopefully there be a lot less people who attempt to cheat in what they do. Shortcuts in life will only take you so far, we have seen that many times!
No comments:
Post a Comment