In an appearance Tuesday on CBS This Morning, Oprah Winfrey confirmed that Lance Armstrong admitted to her in an interview taped Monday that he did use performance-enhancing drugs during his cycling career, as well as when he won his seven Tour de France titles, which he has since been stripped of.
During her appearance on CBS This Morning, Winfrey described Armstrong as "forthcoming" in the interview and while he "did not come clean in the manner that I expected," she said she was "satisfied by the answers."
Armstrong’s confession comes after he previously denied doping for years – and after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency released a report that said, among other things, that the cyclist was at the center of a vast and sophisticated network that supplied him with the drugs.
The interview taped yesterday at a hotel lasted two and a half hours. It is therefore being split into two parts, which will air this Thursday and Friday on the Oprah Winfrey Network, starting at 9 p.m. Viewers can also watch it on their computers where it will be streamed on Oprah.com.
A source who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press yesterday that just a couple of hours before the interview with Oprah, Armstrong went to the Livestrong charity he founded and made an emotional apology to the staff. Armstrong founded the charity to help cancer victims and their families, but was later forced to resign after being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles due to doping charges.
Meanwhile, a government source told ABC News that Armstrong is now talking with authorities about paying back a portion of the U.S. Postal Service sponsorship money his former team received. The source also said that the disgraced cyclist is also talking to authorities about confessing and naming names of others involved in illegal doping.
In spite of coming clean about doping, Armstrong’s legal problems appear to be mounting – and may even get worse as a result of his confession. Senior Justice Department officials have recommended that the government join a lawsuit filed by one of Armstrong's former teammates that accuses the disgraced cyclist of defrauding the federal government. Armstrong's U.S. Postal sponsorship prohibited illegal doping.
Comments