LANCE Armstrong's fall from grace is as awesome as his spectacular rise to not just sporting hero, but inspirational icon, reminding us that the higher you fly, the mightier the fall. Armstrong was more than a cyclist; though his fame came from winning the now-stripped seven consecutive Tour de France championships, he was famous way beyond the world of the bike, or even sport. He was first and foremost the all-American hero who after being diagnosed with cancer, then undergoing brain surgery and chemotherapy, came through not just disease-free but stronger than ever, winning after his cancer one of the most grueling sports events known to man, not just once but seven times in a row. It was a phenomenal feat, one of superhero proportions. But what he did more than anything is show himself to be not just a cancer survivor, but a cancer winner, or, if you want to be cynical about it, he built a brand synonymous with winning, a brand that made him millions. There had been suspicions that Armstrong used doping for years. To put it bluntly, what he did was not possible without performance enhancing drugs, not just in terms of sporting performance but medically: his blood counts beggared medical belief. But there was never any proof, and to this day there is not a drop of scientific evidence against him, he was caught not by tests but by testimony. His inner circle ended up telling on him. Armstrong's legion of supporters always refuted the doping allegations by either reminding us as he did that he had been tested hundreds of times and always found to be clean. We were, to quote Armstrong again, people they felt sorry for because we just don't believe in miracles. Or they just shrugged their shoulders, so what, everyone does it. If taking drugs makes sportsmen perform better, why not, it's part of the competition, he just did it better. In fact, you could say that Armstrong was a champion doper, what he did, it now turns out, was on a scale way beyond anything international sport had seen before. To quote the US anti-doping agency report, he led the “most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen”. He not only took performance-enhancing drugs and underwent blood transfusions throughout his cycling career but he bullied others into doing the same. More worryingly perhaps, the report suggests that an almost mafia-like structure existed around him, from the doctors who designed the program, to the drug smugglers who provided the illegal substances, to inside knowledge that enabled him to predict the timing of anti-doping tests, to the aggressive bullying of anyone who refused to take part or threatened to blow the whistle. The day of the reckoning always comes; seven years after winning his seventh title, they have all been taken away from him. Last week the UCI, the body that runs international cycling, stripped him of all his titles and banned him for life. His sponsors have unceremoniously dropped him one by one, from Nike to Oakley, none of them now want anything to do with him. And this is just the start. Armstrong made millions and those who gave him those millions want their money back, the lawsuits are just around the corner. He could even be charged for perjury since he swore in a court of law that he never took drugs, and perjury is an offense punishable by a jail term in the US. His was such an appealing story, it made the perfect Hollywood movie. The ending has now been changed; rather than the happy ending of old we now have the dark modern twist. But please let us not forget that despite all the cheating and the bullying, Lance Armstrong did achieve something more important than winning a race: he changed the way people view cancer. Livestrong, the charity he set up and for which he has raised more than $500 million, provided something that was lacking in the cancer world, a charity that responded to the needs of sufferers and provided them with support, resources, information, a network and events, and which also created a mindset that went beyond seeing people as ill and needing treatment or even pity, but as human beings facing a challenge that they can overcome. Lance Armstrong has wisely stepped down as chairman of Livestrong. His former sponsors have indicated they intend to continue supporting his foundation and time will tell if they are true to their word. Will his foundation survive his disgrace? I hope so. Some have begun to ask questions, but I am naïve enough to believe that a charity can be clean even if it's founding chairman has been shown not to be. Sometimes good can come from bad. — Imane Kurdi is a Saudi writer on European affairs. She can be reached at [email protected]
