Lance Armstrong Doping Scandal

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http://centurylink.net/news/read.php?id=18809448&ps=1011&cat=&cps=0&lang=en

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The case against Lance Armstrong is closed. His legacy as a seven-time Tour de France champion endures.

Federal prosecutors dropped their investigation of Armstrong on Friday, ending a nearly two-year effort aimed at determining whether the world's most famous cyclist and his teammates joined in a doping program during his greatest years.
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U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. announced in a press release that his office "is closing an investigation into allegations of federal criminal conduct by members and associates of a professional bicycle racing team owned in part by Lance Armstrong."

He didn't disclose the reason for the decision, though Birotte has used discretion in pursing high-profile criminal cases before. Last February, his office closed an investigation of mortgage giant Countrywide Financial Corp.

The pronouncement comes after a pair of less-than-successful cases against top sports figures accused of doping. Home run king Barry Bonds was found guilty of obstruction of justice and sentenced in December to 30 days' home detention — a conviction he's appealing — but prosecutors were unable to convince a jury he lied about using steroids. Roger Clemens' steroid trial is slated for April 17 after a judge declared a mistrial last summer when prosecutors showed jurors inadmissible evidence.


More at link....
 
No, but then again it doesn't need to. Everybody is innocent till proven guilty in any democracy.
 
No, but then again it doesn't need to. Everybody is innocent till proven guilty in any democracy.

Legal definition between: Innocent and Not Guilty

Persons are not found Innocent by a jury. They are found to be Not Guilty. Armstrong was not charged, so we'll never know if he was innocent, but prosecutors were presuming a not guilty verdict.
 
I understand that, but I'm just pointing out that nobody has any need to be found innocent by a jury. Everybody is already innocent by default in a democracy, unless proven guilty of something. Its only police states that force people to prove innocence.
 
USADA to ban Armstrong for life, strip all 7 Tour de France titles

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said Thursday night it will strip Lance Armstrong of his unprecedented seven Tour de France titles after he declared he was finished fighting the drug charges that threaten his legacy as one of the greatest cyclists of all time.
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Travis Tygart, USADA's chief executive, said Armstrong would also be hit with a lifetime ban on Friday.
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Armstrong, who retired last year, declined to enter USADA's arbitration process - his last option - because he said he was weary of fighting accusations that have dogged him for years. He has consistently pointed to the hundreds of drug tests that he has passed as proof of his innocence during his extraordinary run of Tour titles stretching from1999-2005.
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"It is a sad day for all of us who love sport and athletes," Tygart said. "It's a heartbreaking example of win at all costs overtaking the fair and safe option. There's no success in cheating to win."
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much more at link above
 
Here's the website:
http://www.usantidoping.org/

Here's info at their site:
http://www.usada.org/media/statement8202012

Created in 2000, USADA is recognized by Congress as the official anti-doping agency for Olympic sports in the United States. Its investigators joined U.S. agents during the federal probe, and Tygart had dismissed Armstrong's lawsuit as an attempt at "concealing the truth." He said the agency is motivated by one goal - exposing cheaters in sport.


[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_Tygart"]Travis Tygart - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]
 
I don't get a warm feel when I see Lance, he does nothing for me but
when a man passes the tests given, he should get a clean bill. I'm tired
of them pushing him around. Someone feels they have something to gain
with this fight.

I agree with Lance. It is not a fight worth fighting anymore. He knows who
he is and is satisfied with his accomplishments.

goz
 

I don't get a warm feel when I see Lance, he does nothing for me but
when a man passes the tests given, he should get a clean bill. I'm tired
of them pushing him around. Someone feels they have something to gain
with this fight.

I agree with Lance. It is not a fight worth fighting anymore. He knows who
he is and is satisfied with his accomplishments.

goz

[][/ I'm getting the impression someone wants to make a name for himself in a high profile case, IMHEO. Read the wiki link for the guy behind all this. Lance Armstrong? From what I'm getting, he's put out a huge chunk of money on his defense. The other guy should have to pay Lance's attorneys bills. I think Lance dropped the fight for the reason that the time, energy and monetary value are messing with his family life, and after all these years he just wants his family life back to normal.
 
To add to the story:

http://sensenbrenner.house.gov/news/documentprint.aspx?DocumentID=303025

Within the sensenbrenner letter there is a link to a response from USADA which is all gobbledygoob, IMO.

I am neither a Lance Armstrong fan, nor a Sensenbrenner fan, but it does appear that USADA (using 9 Million dollars of taxpayer funding) is running a witch hunting club.

I think that the USADA, needs to be investigated by the DOJ. IMO.
 
I know Travis Tygart, the guy who prosecuted Lance, and I can guarantee that he is a straight shooter and believes to his very core in clean sport free from corruption. Two years ago he was given a detailed confession about what went on in Lance's former team (US Postal, yes, sponsored by the Post Office) and he did what any prosecutor would do...he started an investigation. There was also a federal government investigation into possible racketeering opened up at the time too Eventually more than 10 cyclists and multiple team staff came forward and gave Travis and USADA detailed information. They were all prepared to testify against Lance at an arbitration hearing. Travis had no choice but to prosecute this, it's his job and there was overwhelming evidence against Lance.

This is not just about Lance using performance enhancing drugs to win bike races. It's about:

- Lance and team management pressuring other team members into using drugs. This happened many, many times over the years and it's a horrible thing to do.

- Lance and team management acquiring drugs and selling them to team members...trafficking drugs. This included extremely unsafe experimental drugs like Hemassist that were never even approved for human use.

- Lance paid large amounts of money (bribes) to the governing body of the sport, the UCI, to have them look the other way and cover up his doping. The real injustice here is that the UCI management has not been held accountable. The top of the sport is extremely corrupt and Lance was able to use his fame and large amounts of cash to basically join in cahoots with the UCI Presidents.

As for Lance and cancer. I think the inspiration he has provided is terrific. But sadly, his accomplishments came while using some of the same dangerous drugs that doctors only prescribe to cancer patients with serious anemia. Many here have probably had loved ones, or even themselves, take erythropoietin and know how that drug should only be taken with great care.

So Lance did all he could...he gave in to USADA and is doing his best to win the PR war. But don't be fooled into thinking he's a victim of the system...far from it. When you play the system like he did there's going to be some pushback from the true watchdogs.
 
im totally confused by this,how can they say accuse him of being on drugs when he passed all the tests given?

just because hes tired of the strain that its putting on his family and giving up doesnt make him guilty.

im not a fan of the guy or cycling but this is bull crap.
 
http://www.centurylink.net/news/rea...org>&news_id=19054623&src=most_popular_viewed

..........Tygart said the UCI, the sport's governing body, was "bound to recognize our decision and impose it" as a signer of the World Anti-Doping Code.

"They have no choice but to strip the titles under the code," he said.

On Friday, the International Cycling Union said not so fast. The UCI, which had backed Armstrong's legal challenge to USADA's authority, cited the same World Anti-Doping Code in saying that it wanted the USADA to explain why Armstrong should lose his titles.

The UCI said the code requires this in cases "where no hearing occurs."

Armstrong clearly knew his legacy would be blemished by his decision. He said he has grown tired of defending himself in a seemingly never-ending fight against charges that he doped while piling up more Tour victories than anyone ever. He has consistently pointed to the hundreds of drug tests that he passed as proof of his innocence during his extraordinary run of Tour titles from 1999 to 2005.

"There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, `Enough is enough.' For me, that time is now," Armstrong said Thursday night, hours before the deadline to enter arbitration. He called the USADA investigation an "unconstitutional witch hunt."..............

Armstrong sued USADA in Austin, Texas, where he lives, in an attempt to block the case and was supported by the UCI. A judge threw out the case on Monday, siding with USADA despite questioning the agency's pursuit of Armstrong in his retirement.

"USADA's conduct raises serious questions about whether its real interest in charging Armstrong is to combat doping, or if it is acting according to less noble motives," such as politics or publicity, U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks wrote...........

Jeffery C. Gervey, chairman of the foundation, issued a statement of support.

"Faced with a biased process whose outcome seems predetermined, Lance chose to put his family and his foundation first," Gervey said. "The leadership of the Lance Armstrong Foundation remain incredibly proud of our founder's achievements, both on and off the bike."

Sponsor Nike also backed Armstrong.

"Lance has stated his innocence and has been unwavering on this position," the company said in a statement. "Nike plans to continue to support Lance and the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a foundation that Lance created to serve cancer survivors."

Much more in 5 page article......
 
"Armstrong, however, has never failed a drug test despite having been tested over 500 times.USADA’s allegations are instead based on witness testimony. To date, USADA has not even disclosed to Armstrong who is testifying against him. At the arbitration hearing, the witnesses could refuse to be cross-examined and would not be required to testify in person. USADA has no obligation to disclose exculpatory evidence. Presumably, USADA has offered other athletes inducements to testify against Armstrong, but USADA has no obligation to disclose what those inducements were or whether it offered them. Arbitrators are not chosen under the election procedures afforded by the Federal Arbitration Act to ensure neutral arbitration. The only judicial review permitted would be in Switzerland, not the United States. It is clear that the USADA arbitration process lacks the most basic due process." - Sensenbrenner

As Sensenbrenner said, what is missing and what is concerning is the lack of due process. Tygart sounds more like a zealot to me. Just my opinion.
 
that deadspin article (i think) stated that many of the witnesses were apparently dopers themselves and agreed to testify against lance for lesser punishments.

i do wish he'd come out and say ''i never did peds'' instead of ''i've never failed a drug test for peds,'' but on the other hand.....if they can't catch him in a test after all this time, that strikes me as their problem, not his.
 
http://www.bicycling.com/news/pro-cycling/lance-armstrongs-endgame

WHEN I told my daughter that I believed that Lance Armstrong had doped, she didn't have much to say. She had more important things on her mind, had a big homework project going—writing a clerihew using her own name. But she knows in her 12-year-old way what Lance Armstrong means to me. She knows that I met him before she was born, that I spent most of a year away from her so I could follow him around the world and write a book about his comeback, that I think he, along with a few guys with funnier names she often can't remember, such as Coppi and Anquetil and Zoetemelk and Merckx, was beautiful on a bicycle. She's heard me talk, for years now, to and about people who confront cancer or their deaths or that of their beloved with more strength because of him. She knows that group includes her own mother. She knows I've been on television telling Jim Lehrer or Larry King or John Roberts that I believed he didn't dope or, sometimes, that we couldn't know if he'd ever doped. She knows that Armstrong has called our house and left messages and her friends overheard and thought that was really nuts so he must be cool even if her dad likes him. She knows that I am embarrassed to have once owned a signed Lance Armstrong lunch box. She knows that I talked to him last time I was down in Austin. She knows I've been sick to my stomach lately.

more at link
 
I am not Lance, so I do not have a clue what it would feel like to be in his shoes IF he is innocent of the offenses that have stripped him of his unprecedented accomplishments. My guess is that IF I were truly without guilt, I would fight it to the end of my days to remove the stigma that he and his children will now carry. I don't see the gain of giving up. It seems like a lose/lose situation for his family to do so. But I might feel differently if I were Lance and I knew the allegations were true, and that fighting them would only bring more dishonor on me and my family. By giving up, the question will always remain in some minds that he was robbed, and so he has a semblance of saving face. Fighting it, and risking the scope of the evidence to come out if it is there, could erase all doubt and cast him forever as a cheater. Maybe it was worth it to him to go this route instead. Maybe it was worth even more to do it this way for the Foundation and the people it has helped and inspired. Either way, it is a great American tragedy I think.
 

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