Lance Armstrong and Doping

In a report filed with time.com, Lance Armstrong is said to have finally admitted doping in his interview with celebrity titan Oprah Winfrey. The interview will be aired over OWN, Oprah's television network. This is a sad postscript to a heroic story of cancer survival and winning the Tour de France seven times. In 2012, Lance Armstrong was stripped of all such titles. He also resigned from his post as a chairman of the Livestrong Foundation which he founded.

For all the things Lance Armstrong did, conquered and achieved - his unholy associations with the world of sports doping, of which many professional athletes, I am sure, are entwined, has certainly placed a blemish on his legacy. A legacy that is no mean feat indeed. However tragic this story is, I believe that it is an opportunity for all of us to reflect on what it means to succeed - is it just merely the accomplishment of lofty standards or a battle with our human limitations.

It would be easy for some to condemn Armstrong as a cheat. For others, it would just be explained away as a usuality, as one athlete in the Tour de France said, everybody dopes. Is success then to be based on an honest to goodness effort? Is the ideal success story one frought with struggle and hardship like the story of the ancient heroes of myth and legend?

In todays milieu, everyone is pushed towards being a success story. To use any and all means, although not always explicitly said, is nevertheless implied. Employers demand from employees results at all costs, military leaders demand tangible outcomes, politicians seek solid proofs, parents expect stellar grades. It seems to me that today's society places an inordinate amount of value on the crown of success, not the story to success.

The increased competition in all aspects of modern society, from the academia to the corporate boardroom, has imbued in all those who seek to make a mark to achieve results, that is all that matters. How you get there is supposed to be figured out yourself. Do what it takes is the unwritten rule.

This has been proven by the story of Lance Armstrong. I have read in an internet based article, I think it was from cnn.com, that said that those who participated in the Tour de France actually did dope. It was part of the culture of the sport. If you wanted to win, you had to dope. The doping was not and by no means exclusive to Lance Armstrong, nor to any elite athlete of the sport, it was done by most of those who aspired to make an impact in the sport. It was also reported from the same article that the athletes, at least a number of them, engaged in "high-end" (my term), difficult to detect, ultramodern drug regimen to beat out the random drug testing methods.

Unless the culture of greed continues to permeate in all aspects of modern society, that includes the world of professional sports, which is probably the most competitive and most demanding of the spheres of modern life, then doping will continue at its highest levels and at its most scientifically sophisticated levels. The rise and fall of Lance Armstrong is the story of modern man - that is the irony of this all.