We have seen the fall of an American hero this week. Former cyclist Lance Armstrong just lost pretty much everything he had. I still do not want to believe that he did cheat so I am not even going to bother getting into that aspect. However, as if Armstrong was not already having a bad week. Nike along with many other sponsors dropped Armstrong after the allegations emerged. This is the same company that took back Michael Vick after he served time for torturing animals.
However, the saddest announcement came when Armstrong stepped down from LiveStrong, his charity. In a press release, Armstrong had this to say as the reason, ““to spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career, I will conclude my chairmanship.” Armstrong famously battled testicular cancer and was seen as an inspiration to those suffering from all forms of the disease.
It is one thing to say he is a disgraced athlete (allegedly), but no one can take away what that man has done for cancer research. Honestly, everyone owns one of those yellow bracelets. He used his stardom for such a great cause. How can we just let him fall from grace and let this overshadow all the good he has done? I think Armstrong is not fully disgraced and just needs to lay low for a little and can reemerge in the future. Maybe he can take some personal time and just relax. I am sure that everyone is still pulling for him to make a comeback. America is the place to do it!
I 100% agree with you on Armstrong. 100% I saw in the news how people want their donations back. It’s not a little amount either. It’s over $100k. The people felt deceived. Hell, we all were! I wish I had $100k to donate to LiveStrong. I still would, because the bigger picture is curing cancer, not Lance Armstrong.
Well said, Ashleigh. And thanks for stopping by my blog, The Walrus Cafe to read my take on the same thing.