Armstrong confesses to Oprah
Source: Agencies |
January 16, 2013, Wednesday
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Print Edition
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Lance Armstrong confessed to doping during an interview with Oprah Winfrey taped on Monday, just a couple of hours after a wrenching apology to staff at the Livestrong charity he founded and has now been forced to surrender.
Winfrey said the world's most famous cyclist was "forthcoming" as she asked him in detail about doping allegations that followed him throughout his seven Tour de France victories.
Winfrey told CBS yesterday she had not planned to address Armstrong's confession before the interview aired on her OWN network tomorrow but, "by the time I left Austin and landed in Chicago, you all had already confirmed it."
Winfrey said the interview will run in two parts over two nights because there was so much material.
She would not characterize whether Armstrong seemed contrite but said he seemed ready for the interview. "I would say he met the moment," she said.
The confession was a stunning reversal for a proud athlete and celebrity who sought lavish praise and used courtrooms to punish his critics.
For more than a decade, Armstrong dared anybody who challenged his version of events to prove it. Finally, he told the tale himself after promising over the weekend to answer Winfrey's questions "directly, honestly and candidly."
The cyclist was stripped of his Tour titles, lost most of his endorsements and was forced to leave Livestrong last year after the US Anti-Doping Agency issued a damning, 1,000-page report that accused him of masterminding a long-running doping scheme.
The International Cycling Union, or UCI, issued a statement yesterday saying it was aware of the reports that Armstrong had confessed to Winfrey. The governing body for the sport urged Armstrong to tell his story to an independent commission it has set up to examine claims it covered up suspicious samples from the cyclist, accepted financial donations from him and helped him avoid detection.
Armstrong began on Monday with a visit to the headquarters of Livestrong, the charity he founded in 1997 and turned into a global force on the strength of his athletic dominance and personal story of surviving testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and brain.
Armstrong told staff: "I'm sorry." He choked up during a 20-minute talk, expressing regret for the long-running controversy tied to performance-enhancers, but stopped short of admitting he used them.
He urged them to continue the charity's mission, helping cancer patients and their families.
Armstrong later huddled with almost a dozen people before stepping into the interview with Winfrey. The group included close friends and lawyers.
For years, Armstrong went after his critics ruthlessly during his reign as cycling champion. He scolded some in public and didn't hesitate to punish outspoken riders during the race itself. He waged legal battles against others in court.
At least one of his opponents, the London-based Sunday Times, has filed a lawsuit to recover about US$500,000 it paid him to settle a libel case, and Texas-based SCA Promotions, which tried to deny Armstrong a promised bonus for a Tour de France win, has threatened to bring another lawsuit seeking to recover more than US$7.5 million awarded by an arbitration panel.
In Australia, the government of South Australia state said it will seek the repayment of several million dollars in appearance fees paid to Armstrong for competing in the Tour Down Under.
Betsy Andreu, the wife of former Armstrong teammate Frankie Andreu, was one of the first to publicly accuse Armstrong of using performance-enhancing drugs.
She called news of Armstrong's confession "very emotional and very sad."
"He used to be one of my husband's best friends and because he wouldn't go along with the doping, he got kicked to the side," she said.
Winfrey said the world's most famous cyclist was "forthcoming" as she asked him in detail about doping allegations that followed him throughout his seven Tour de France victories.
Winfrey told CBS yesterday she had not planned to address Armstrong's confession before the interview aired on her OWN network tomorrow but, "by the time I left Austin and landed in Chicago, you all had already confirmed it."
Winfrey said the interview will run in two parts over two nights because there was so much material.
She would not characterize whether Armstrong seemed contrite but said he seemed ready for the interview. "I would say he met the moment," she said.
The confession was a stunning reversal for a proud athlete and celebrity who sought lavish praise and used courtrooms to punish his critics.
For more than a decade, Armstrong dared anybody who challenged his version of events to prove it. Finally, he told the tale himself after promising over the weekend to answer Winfrey's questions "directly, honestly and candidly."
The cyclist was stripped of his Tour titles, lost most of his endorsements and was forced to leave Livestrong last year after the US Anti-Doping Agency issued a damning, 1,000-page report that accused him of masterminding a long-running doping scheme.
The International Cycling Union, or UCI, issued a statement yesterday saying it was aware of the reports that Armstrong had confessed to Winfrey. The governing body for the sport urged Armstrong to tell his story to an independent commission it has set up to examine claims it covered up suspicious samples from the cyclist, accepted financial donations from him and helped him avoid detection.
Armstrong began on Monday with a visit to the headquarters of Livestrong, the charity he founded in 1997 and turned into a global force on the strength of his athletic dominance and personal story of surviving testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and brain.
Armstrong told staff: "I'm sorry." He choked up during a 20-minute talk, expressing regret for the long-running controversy tied to performance-enhancers, but stopped short of admitting he used them.
He urged them to continue the charity's mission, helping cancer patients and their families.
Armstrong later huddled with almost a dozen people before stepping into the interview with Winfrey. The group included close friends and lawyers.
For years, Armstrong went after his critics ruthlessly during his reign as cycling champion. He scolded some in public and didn't hesitate to punish outspoken riders during the race itself. He waged legal battles against others in court.
At least one of his opponents, the London-based Sunday Times, has filed a lawsuit to recover about US$500,000 it paid him to settle a libel case, and Texas-based SCA Promotions, which tried to deny Armstrong a promised bonus for a Tour de France win, has threatened to bring another lawsuit seeking to recover more than US$7.5 million awarded by an arbitration panel.
In Australia, the government of South Australia state said it will seek the repayment of several million dollars in appearance fees paid to Armstrong for competing in the Tour Down Under.
Betsy Andreu, the wife of former Armstrong teammate Frankie Andreu, was one of the first to publicly accuse Armstrong of using performance-enhancing drugs.
She called news of Armstrong's confession "very emotional and very sad."
"He used to be one of my husband's best friends and because he wouldn't go along with the doping, he got kicked to the side," she said.
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