The man previously hailed as the greatest cyclist of all time, Lance Armstrong, thoroughly enjoyed denying using performance enhancing drugs. Click through to enjoy some of his best denials.
Lance Armstorng is understood to have apologised to staff at his Livestrong cancer foundation before heading to an interview with Oprah Winfrey this week where it’s said he has confessed to doping.
Please enjoy some of his best denials:
“Luke’s name is Armstrong and people know that name, and when he goes to school I don’t want them to say, ‘Oh yeah, your dad’s the big fake, the doper.’ That would just kill me,” – in his second autobiography, “Every Second Counts,” in 2003.
“I came out of a life-threatening disease. I was on my death bed. You think I’m going to come back into a sport and say, ‘OK, OK doctor, give me everything you’ve got, I just want to go fast?’ No way! I would never do that,” – public forum, Aspen, Colo., 2007.
“How many times do I have to say it? … Well, if it can’t be any clearer than ‘I’ve never taken drugs,'” – videotaped testimony in lawsuit, 2005.
“I’m sorry you don’t believe in miracles,” – 2005 Tour de France victory speech, taking aim at “the cynics and the skeptics.”
“There are no secrets. This is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it,” – same speech.
“Everybody wants to know: what am I on. What am I on? I’m on my bike, busting my ass six hours a day,” – commercial for Nike in 2001.
“We’re sick and tired of these allegations and we’re going to do everything we can to fight them. They’re absolutely untrue” – news conference, 2004.
“They say, ‘This is a new guy in the Tour. It can’t be. He must be doped.’ It’s unfortunate,” – TV interview on the way to winning his first Tour, in 1999.
“You are not worth the chair that you’re sitting on,” – at journalist and doping critic Paul Kimmage, at 2009 news conference.
“Do we make mistakes, all of us? Absolutely. As a society, are we supposed to forgive and forget and let people get back to their job? Absolutely,” – same news conference, arguing that dopers should get a second chance.
“At the end of the day, I have nothing to hide,” – Associated Press interview, 2009.
“I have never doped” – on ‘Larry King Live,’ 2005.
[Source: AP]
