The ‘Decade of Denial’ of doping allegations stripped ‘pure’riders of whole careers. Oprah says she is satisfied by the answers Armstrong gave to the questions she was able to get in during the 90-minute interview.
Armstrong and others profited
The glory train ascent to the top of role model athleticism is a short hard plummeting nose dive to an ugly chapter of Lance Armstrong’s fame in the sport of cycling. Fans and Armstrong’s cycling competitors are outraged. Attempting to stop an era of dishonesty is a bit naïve. Athletes just don’t stop doping and cheating in the name of money and sponsors.
Armstrong remained evasive about his doping use and the use of steroids by members of the U.S. Postal Service Cycling Team while the positive tests and those closest to him were taken down one-by-one. The testing program the Olympic Anti-doping agency put into place gradually toughened. Ignoring the doping issue of performance enhancers being used can no longer be ignored.
“What you realize is that no matter what the risks of cheating are, no matter what the odds are of getting caught, some percentage of athletes are still going to cheat,” said Travis Tygart chief executive of the United States Anti-doping Agency. Major League Baseball became the first professional sports league begin testing for human growth hormone in November 2011.
Cycling has taken steps to clean up, but…
Performance enhancers are relatively inexpensive, easy to obtain. Tougher testing will scare cycling straight. Tygart began counterattacking doping in sports pushing for tougher testing. The cheats will always try to stay ahead of the testing game. The Olympics was supposed to have the “gold standard” of testing. A lack of action on the part of sponsors, managers, trainers and team owners has kept doping dishonesty alive in the sport of cycling.
Perjury and obstruction of justice
Armstrong sold his soul, sells out. Making false claims and statements during hearings about Armstrong’s use of performance enhancing drugs can carry a maximum of 30 years in jail. Current sentencing guidelines could bring as little as 15-20 months. The American public has the right to expect that witnesses who testify under oath will tell the truth. Our government can’t run efficiently and function properly if people are not held accountable for their false statements. If a witness makes false or inaccurate statements and makes the choice to ignore their obligations to testify honestly, there will be consequences. Armstrong would not be the first athlete to be indicted for perjury. Tygart remains committed to the position we must act aggressively.
To get the latest updates from National Holistic Health Examiner Tina Ranieri ‘click’ the subscribe button above. To view her body of articles ‘click’ Tina Ranieri, Atlanta Holistic Health Examiner, or Atlanta Fishing Examiner.
Comments