Lance Armstrong

by 6A Wong Tsz To Charlotte    The famous cyclist Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France seven times consecutively, from 1999 to 2005. Unfortunately, an investigative journalist found that he and his teammates had been systematically doping for years.  I feel really disappointed in him. Since he was a professional athlete in the public eye, I thought he was a great and successful cyclist. However, he only relied on drugs to win the competitions. It was not fair to the other cyclists in the competition. In 1996, Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer, which spread to his brain and lungs. The doctors told him that he only had 50 per cent chance of surviving. Due to his strong faith and spirit, he recovered eventually and began cycling again. I appreciate his resolute passion and his enthusiasm for cycling very much. I thought he would cherish the opportunity to be a cyclist even more than before. At first, I did not believe he would dope in order to be strong enough to win the competition. I thought he was just a very strong and healthy athlete, but he let me down completely. Successful athletes should win competitions by their own strength and stamina, not by doping. All the articles that reported Armstrong’s bad behavior will damage his reputation and image. It was not clever for him to take anabolic steroids before competitions. Moreover, this behavior harmed others. Although he won lots of money and had a good image before, he has lost all this now.  He had to give back the money to the Tour de France organizers and everyone feels disappointed with him. He gained nothing in the end. I supposed he could have won those competitions if he had relied on himself. Since he had fought cancer with his strong faith, he could be the best cyclist too. It was a shame that he took the wrong path. The sports community should do something to avoid this happening again. First, they should enforce the rules more strictly. For those who break them, they should pay a big fine to the community or even be sent to prison - for at least two years. This would discourage athletes from doping before competitions. Also, the sports community could have a ‘black-list’ system for those who are found guilty of doping. Offenders would be banned from any other competitions or related activities. I think these harsh punishments could deter athletes from doping.  Finally, the sports community could assign doctors to the teams. The doctors would have to be professional and trustworthy enough to help the athletes remain healthy and fit, and prevent 'crooked' athletes and their co-conspirators from using sophisticated doping methods to deceive the public. Lance Armstrong is a failed role model for other athletes.