They’ve been showing the ads for 60 Minutes and now articles are starting to crop up to the same effect. I’ve commented on it before, but the probability that Lance Armstrong wasn’t using PED’s had to be somewhere near 0 at this point. It’s only ever been a matter of time before people with first-hand knowledge started talking. Looks like that time is now.
Regarding cycling, I think PED abuse is a bigger problem than in other sports for a simple reason: it’s all about the training and the belief that only guys who train for it can compete, particularly where the Tour de France is concerned. As soon as the public comes round to thinking that even professionals require drugs to complete the race, the mystique of competing in and winning the most grueling race in the world is gone. After all, it’s not a long walk from there to the conclusion that any Joe, given the right mixture of drugs, could compete in Tour. I’m not saying that’s correct, but I think it’s a reasonable guess at what a majority of people would conclude based on general perceptions of what PED’s are about.
To most people (and I say this because I’ve spoken with a lot of people involved in recreational sports who clearly have misconceptions) PED’s are magic potions that make someone “more” than what they normally are. Need to run a marathon? Shoot some steroid into your blood, or HGH, or some other magic acronym and problem solved.
In a sense, they do make an athlete “more” than they were. PED’s accelerate recovery and healing (steroids are used to aid surgery patients in recovery is my understanding). The accelerated recovery allows an athlete to work out at rates that would destroy their bodies otherwise. It’s why Barry Bonds was able to hit 80 (or whatever) homeruns in a season- he never got tired or worn down from the grind of the season. It’s also why they are so seductive to a cyclist in the Tour: it allows them to recover from the beating of the event itself.
So as regards Lance Armstrong, the “fallen hero” story line will eventually come to pass, if it hasn’t already. Considering his “Livestrong” persona and what he’s been able to do regarding research money for cancer, it’s an unfortunate turn of events, though. I, personally, take no gratification in seeing him fall.
As regards the Tour, and cycling more generally,I think the only answer, if they are serious about the perception of their event, is to assume that, short complete control over their competitors, there will be cheating. From that stance, the answer becomes straight-forward: remove the cyclists from their support structure. Give them strict schedules for housing and eating. Assign officials to monitor the support crews both in the cars and out. They need to remove any and all autonomy from the cyclists. Even then, I’m not sure it will work- it might well destroy the event because no one will want to compete in it anymore.
But allowing their competitors to continue as they are will surely destroy the sport anyway.
One reply on “A Familiar Storyline”
I’m just not sure what relevance there is to having a government body investigate a sport that is governed by a foreign entity, on foreign soil, and is a popular foreign event – not equaled on our soil. After all, the commercial gains were shared by many when the medals were awarded … sport is not pure … professional sport is certainly, and most definitely, not pure.