Banned Armstrong says he wants to compete again
Source: Agencies |
January 20, 2013, Sunday
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SHAMED cyclist Lance Armstrong wants to return to competitive sport, but says the driving force behind his belated doping confession was the well-being of his five children.
"The biggest hope and intention was the well-being of my children," Armstrong told talk show host Oprah Winfrey in the second segment of their televised interview on Friday.
On Thursday, the 41-year-old Texan admitted for the first time that an array of performance-enhancing drugs helped sweep him to a record seven Tour de France titles from 1999-2005.
"The older kids need to not be living with this issue in their lives," Armstrong said. "That isn't fair for me to have done to them. And I did it."
But Armstrong said that if confession could help him regain a place in sport - in triathlons or marathons - he'd jump at it.
"Hell yes, I'm a competitor," Armstrong said, adding that he didn't think he deserved the "death penalty" of a lifetime ban. "Frankly, this may not be the most popular answer, but I think I deserve it," he said, telling Winfrey that former teammates who implicated themselves in testifying against him received lesser punishments.
"I deserve to be punished," Armstrong said. "I'm not sure that I deserve a death penalty."
When Winfrey noted that virtually every article on the once revered cyclist now begins with the word "disgraced" Armstrong said he felt it fit.
"But I also feel humbled. I feel ashamed. This is ugly stuff," he said. "I'm deeply sorry for what I did. I can say that thousands of times and it may never be enough to get back."
"The biggest hope and intention was the well-being of my children," Armstrong told talk show host Oprah Winfrey in the second segment of their televised interview on Friday.
On Thursday, the 41-year-old Texan admitted for the first time that an array of performance-enhancing drugs helped sweep him to a record seven Tour de France titles from 1999-2005.
"The older kids need to not be living with this issue in their lives," Armstrong said. "That isn't fair for me to have done to them. And I did it."
But Armstrong said that if confession could help him regain a place in sport - in triathlons or marathons - he'd jump at it.
"Hell yes, I'm a competitor," Armstrong said, adding that he didn't think he deserved the "death penalty" of a lifetime ban. "Frankly, this may not be the most popular answer, but I think I deserve it," he said, telling Winfrey that former teammates who implicated themselves in testifying against him received lesser punishments.
"I deserve to be punished," Armstrong said. "I'm not sure that I deserve a death penalty."
When Winfrey noted that virtually every article on the once revered cyclist now begins with the word "disgraced" Armstrong said he felt it fit.
"But I also feel humbled. I feel ashamed. This is ugly stuff," he said. "I'm deeply sorry for what I did. I can say that thousands of times and it may never be enough to get back."
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