Lance Armstrong, Oprah Interview About Doping: Livestrong Expects Him to be 'Completely Truthful'
Lance Armstrong's interview with Oprah Winfrey, in which he reportedly admits to doping throughout his cycling career, will air Thursday and Friday on the OWN network, and the cancer organization the athlete started hopes he will be forthcoming about the charges against him.
Armstrong's reported admission about him using performance-enhancement drugs comes after he was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life from the sport in October of 2012. He denied for years that he used banned drugs during his career as a cyclist but he declined to take the case to arbitration and the evidence released by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency remained against him. His sponsors dropped him and he was forced to step down from the Austin, Texas-based Livestrong Foundation, the cancer-fighting charity he founded in 1997 known for its yellow bracelets.
"We expect Lance to be completely truthful and forthcoming in his interview and with all of us in the cancer community," Livestrong said Wednesday in a released statement, according to Metro New York. "Inspired by the people with cancer whom we serve, we fell confident and optimistic about the Foundation's future and welcome an end to speculation."
Armstrong visited the foundation staff earlier this week, Metro reported.
His interview with Winfrey was taped in his Austin home on Monday. Armstrong told The Associated Press about the terms of his interview with Winfrey, saying, "I told her to go wherever she wants and I'll answer the questions directly, honestly and candidly. That's all I can say."
The reason behind Armstrong's desire to tell all is a sudden one and has many questioning his motives. Forbes sports writer Monte Burke said "the urge to compete - and not the urge to seek atonement, redemption or forgiveness - seems to be at the heart of his decision to come clean, so to speak."
Armstrong wants to compete again in running events and triathlons, and following his admittance to the charges against him, he hopes it is a possibility, according to Burke. In order for that to happen though, he may have to testify against several leaders in the sport of cycling, such as Thomas Weisel, the co-owner of the United States Postal Service Pro Cycling Team.
The New York Times cited people close to the situation that said Armstrong is planning to testify in a case against officials from the International Cycling Union about their involvement with doping in cycling. He is also in discussions with the United States Department of Justice to testify in a federal case against the cycling team, sponsored by the U.S. Postal Service, and several of its owners and officials, including Weisel.
