Limpag: Will we ever see Armstrong race again?

Can you forgive Lance Armstrong?

Mike T. Limpag

Fair Play

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Should Lance Armstrong be forever banned from all sports?

He lied to us for so long and said he didn’t do it.

He fought so hard to keep his name clean that it seemed, he was just banking on this image, of his cancer-survivor who could do no wrong that cheating, for him, must be impossible.

All of that, of course, is a lie.

“I’ve never failed a drug test,” Armstrong would strongly say when he faced doping accusations.

And in hindsight, that statement, tells a lot right?

Failing a doping test and doping are two different things. He was probably laughing silently whenever he said that.

The next question is, can you forgive him?

Should he race again?

He’s old by the way, far from the elite rider that he was.

Whatever pursuits he plans, it won’t be for a title or a prizemoney.

Should he be allowed to race again?

Some would probably say a lifetime ban is a slap in the wrist, Armstrong should be jailed and he could since he lied in a deposition.

But I’m such a big believer for second chances and I think Lance should.

That doesn’t mean, of course, that he’d get his ban reduced to six months, be jail-free.

He should pay the price for his errors, that’s the only way for him to get back on the road, or on the bike, if its triathlons he’s planning to join.

Four years? Eight years? Seven years? One for every Tour de France victory he won by cheating? I don’t know. All I know is that I hope to see Lance compete, again.

Is it loyalty to a fallen icon? No.

Lance Armstrong, the Tour de France winner was a fraud.
Lance Armstrong, the cancer survivor, wasn’t.

Should he race again? I think he should. Not now, not in a year or two. And never should he be paid an appearance fee if ever that time comes.

For all those he inspired with his story to fight the big fight, or to get fit, or even, to not give up.

Yep, the icon has fallen.

I hope the man stands again.

(www.mikelimpag@gmail.com)