05 Jul 2023 07:39:01
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Sporting Villains 4: Lance Armstrong

1.) 05 Jul 2023
05 Jul 2023 08:01:10
He was given a lot of grief, but when i tried to ride my bike on drugs, it was not easy.

2.) 05 Jul 2023
05 Jul 2023 08:47:43
Ed001: What a superbly written article! i enjoyed reading that.

As your research proved in these type of cases we have the main Villain being enabled by a complete network of villains.

It reminded me of Serpico set in the world of cycling.

What could have been a truly inspirational story of courage and bravery was nothing but a culture of bullying, lies, lies and more lies.

Sadly crime does pay as proven by the mans wealth and infamy.

Thank you for taking the time to write such a informative piece.

{Ed001's Note - thank you mate. I was really worried it would end up being a total mess as I had to keep stop starting all the way through writing it. I daren't read back through or my OCD would find one mistake and make me rewrite the whole thing!

Doing the research it was shocking how much had gone on (and still is going on - all those British Olympic cycling medals for example) to cheat to victory in an organised fashion. And it impinged on so many sports - Pep was very much implicated as having worked with Fuentes at Barca and Bayern, plus the Spanish national team, Barca without Pep, Real Madrid, Valencia (during the period Rafa was in charge as well), Juve, both Milan teams and many more. It is a shame the Spanish court ordered all the evidence destroyed, but then Spain would have faced potential stripping of their World and European titles.....}

3.) 05 Jul 2023
05 Jul 2023 09:46:25
Excellent read, Armstrong is like the Donald Trump of cycling.

4.) 05 Jul 2023
05 Jul 2023 09:58:41
The spanish courts ordering all the evidence to be destroyed says it all really.

Ed001: If you have the time i would love to read a article on how it impacted the football teams you mentioned.

When you cannot trust the integrity of a sport, be it cycling, boxing or football, what have we got left?

{Ed001's Note - it would be very difficult to measure any impact as the evidence was all covered up so successively. Though Fuentes himself did point out that he was involved with the Spanish national team on the witness stand under oath. Funnily enough, neither FIFA nor UEFA made any attempt to investigate his allegations. Sadly I don't think sport has any integrity, the fact that City are the best team in the world right now shows that it is non-existent and only comes down to who is willing to go the furthest to win.}

5.) 05 Jul 2023
05 Jul 2023 10:27:23
Thanks Ed, good read and extremely informative.

{Ed001's Note - thank you Bmena.}

6.) 05 Jul 2023
05 Jul 2023 10:49:58
If anyone has read about the carryon around Linford Christie during his time at the top they would have very little confidance in "fair play" in any sport.

7.) 05 Jul 2023
05 Jul 2023 11:01:50
Simply the best, ED01. Bravo, Monsieur. I always knew they would but him at long last cos there was too much to cover up and to me, the dam broke as soon as Floyd Landis openly admitted that he was on PED's when he won the Tour and said Lance was also on PED's. That was lights out, IMO.

For me, I lived in France from Feb, '99 till Aug '03 so I was right in the middle of the Tour De France and all the fall out that happened with Lance, Ulrich, Pantani etc. in real time. Ed, it was absolute madness. Armstrong had a whole operation working for him and as you said, they all seemed to be working under very difficult conditions laced in lies, secracy, loyalty and of course, threats and blackmail.

I moved to the States in Aug. of '03 and for someone coming from France, whenever we talked about tha Armstrong issue, there was immediate pushback cos Lance was a hero to many esp. those in the politics, entertainment etc. He was a symbol of "Amrerican Strength" and jealousy from the outside world who were just bitter that a cancer survivor kicked their asses and could not handle the smoke.

There was a whole movement behind him that allowed him to get untold riches, access (to even the White House as W. Bush was also from Texas), reality shows and dating some of the hottest celebrities like Sheryl Crow who would NEVER have looked his way had he not been winning, IMO.

I just watched an interview Armstrong did a couple of year back and sadly, he is still the arrogant, cheating, smart ass he has always been, one who neither apologised nor took any responsibility for any of his actions. Rather yet, he saw all his actions as a means to an end. To him, cheating and destroying people's lives while at it was worth all the bad behavior cos with out it, he would not have had all that he now possesses. Sad.

{Ed001's Note - thank you Oli. It is such a shame but humans will often see winning as the be all and end all. Morals go out the window so long as they can get that win.}

8.) 05 Jul 2023
05 Jul 2023 11:21:49
That is one of the best reads i have read top banana ED.

{Ed001's Note - wow, thank you worzal!}

9.) 05 Jul 2023
05 Jul 2023 12:10:47
Enjoyed that ed001 really interesting read thanks
Up the pool.

{Ed001's Note - thank you Reddan.}

10.) 05 Jul 2023
05 Jul 2023 12:16:31
That was excellent, loved reading it, well researched and easy to read take a bow ed.

{Ed001's Note - at my age taking a bow might leave me stuck there, so I will just say thanks mate!}

11.) 05 Jul 2023
05 Jul 2023 12:17:31
A really excellent article Ed, great read.

What’s staggers isn’t the lengths Lance was willing to go but it’s the extent that those around him in positions of power (such as the various governing bodies) were happy to brush it away.

It’s actually quite depressing when you look at it across the board how common it is.

See motorsport and the FIA, they have always leaned a particular way - at the moment it’s in favour of the great orange hope.

UEFA and FIFA have always been self serving. The FA exactly the same.

Athletics is always mired in controversy.

Boxing the same.

American sports have seen any number of scandals.

Crickets had loads.

Wherever you look you’ll find it.

The problem is sport is always sold on the basis of it being on a level playing field. Frankly it’s just a myth - it’s just a lie we all tell ourselves.

{Ed001's Note - very true Wassa. Sport is never fair sadly.}

12.) 05 Jul 2023
05 Jul 2023 12:47:17
Remember being given his autobiography when I was really unwell and having long stints in hospital back in 2005. Such an inspiration and seriously helped me to get fit and back on my feet.

Was a proper gut punch when I found out what really went on. Can still remember parts of the book now about having his catheters drained through his chest and how quickly the cancer had spread. Had a real impact on me at the time.

{Ed001's Note - it is sad when you find out the truth.}

13.) 05 Jul 2023
05 Jul 2023 13:01:22
Kind of related: I finally got round to watching 9.79* recently. It was released about ten years ago I think; documentary film on the 1988 Olympic 100m final in Seoul, the build up to it and the aftermath.

Interviews with all eight of the finalists are included in the film, some more than others with Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis, not surprisingly, featured the most. Johnson probably comes across best out of all of them in the film, most humble and at ease in the interviews. I guess that's because he admitted it all, accepted the punishments and has nothing to hide. Notable that all but one of the eight finalists failed tests for some sort of substance at various times in their careers. Also interesting to hear about the test results that went missing and other shady incidents, and the samples that were kept and re-tested years later when testing methods had improved, with even more banned substances then discovered.

Carl Lewis is his usual loud, smiley energetic personality but can't be completely free of suspicion in my opinion (he failed a test in the 80s but the result was over-turned based on the explanation he gave) . Linford Christie doesn't really come across well in my opinion.

14.) 05 Jul 2023
05 Jul 2023 13:46:12
Just to quote nate Diaz and something I think has at least a hint of truth to it. Everyone's on steroids.

15.) 05 Jul 2023
05 Jul 2023 14:49:43
Wow, what a brilliant read and fantastically well written. The psychology behind his close shave with death and his obsession to win at all costs is fascinating, what a nasty piece of work he turned into. The Marco Pantani story is also quite incredible. Thanks for writing this, must have taken some research.

{Ed001's Note - thank you barak! I really appreciate that.}

16.) 05 Jul 2023
05 Jul 2023 14:52:04
Excellent article Ed001. Well written and absolutely unbelievable in some parts! I didn't know half of what went on so thoroughly enjoyed this. It's incredible what people will do not only to win but to stay there.

{Ed001's Note - thank you mate. It would be great if at some point Armstrong comes completely clean about what he did and how.}

17.) 05 Jul 2023
05 Jul 2023 16:10:01
He would most probably try to monetise it by coming up with a tell-all book or something Ed. After reading your article, I can definitely see him doing that

Great read btw Ed. Thoroughly enjoyed it. And, like many have mentioned, I didn't know half the things that you wrote. Truly eye-opening. Just makes me wonder how clean the Spanish National team and La Liga was with the involvement of Fuentes in both of them.

{Ed001's Note - I am sure he would want to make money from it, but at least then it would be out in the open.

Thank you Drac. As for the Spanish national team, a lot of La Liga and Serie A, they were not in the slightest clean. Just to point out, one of the main advantages of the doping for footballers is a quick recovery from injury - all of Pep Guardiola's teams have been notable for their players remarkably early returns from injuries.

Oh and on the subject of the 1988 Olympic final and Carl Lewis - he had been banned for doping on at least two occasions while a college athlete. Just something that often gets swept under the carpet that he failed tests a number of times and is probably the Lance Armstrong of athletics. It is astonishing he got away with it and continues to do so by simply blustering his way through.}

18.) 05 Jul 2023
05 Jul 2023 17:01:14
{Ed001's Note - thank you mate. It would be great if at some point Armstrong comes completely clean about what he did and how. }

Good luck with that, Ed01 cos that ain't happening anytime soon, lol. Armstrong is till the arrogant, condescending, insolent cheat with enuff Hubris to fit into Anfield he has always been, based on the last interview he gave a couple of years back that I referred to in my first comment.

He was so rude, dismissive and combative with the interviewer (who was a woman) and showed his disdain for women who "dare" to challenge him. That bro. ain't sorry about any of the reprehensible things he did and the lives he destroyed. Armstrong seems to just be sore and bitter that he eventually got caught and still things people are out to get him. Again, sad.

{Ed001's Note - but that is also what drove him on. That hubris and refusal to be beaten by anyone. If only it had been harnessed correctly!}

19.) 05 Jul 2023
05 Jul 2023 19:26:45
Double-edged sword with things like that, Ed. Normally, we often know what side these traits will lead to whenever the pressure is on. Sadly for him, he chose to use such qualities to do evil. Pity.