Ducking, diving and deceit prove to be difficult habits for serial cheat to break
CYCLING/INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (IOC),in a statement: “There can be no place for doping in sport and the IOC unreservedly condemns the actions of Lance Armstrong and all those who seek an unfair advantage against their fellow competitors by taking drugs. This is a sad day for sport but there is a positive side if these revelations can begin to draw a line under previous practices.”
DAVID HOWMAN, (World Anti-Doping Agency) director general: “It seemed to us it was more of a convenient truth than a full display of what went on and that is really what we would ask him to do. It displays that talking to a talk show host is not a very effective way of getting the full information out because a talk show host doesn’t have the full story. I think there were a lot of words put into his mouth, that’s not the way you get full information.”
TRAVIS TYGART, United States Anti-Doping Agency chief, in a statement: “His admission that he doped throughout his career is a small step in the right direction but if he is sincere in his desire to correct his past mistakes he will testify under oath about the full extent of his doping activities.”
PAT McQUAID, International Cycling Union (UCI) president, in a statement: “The UCI welcomes Lance Armstrong’s decision finally to come clean and to confess to using performance-enhancing drugs, in the first part of his interview with Oprah Winfrey. We note that Lance Armstrong expressed a wish to participate in a truth and reconciliation process, which we would welcome.”
CHRISTIAN PRUDHOMME, Tour de France race director, said: “What we’ve just seen is a minutely calibrated exercise in communication. Just a few weeks ago, if we’d been told that Armstrong was doping during the Tour de France, we wouldn’t have thought it possible. But after the leaks we’ve had recently, this leaves something to be desired. We need to go further . . . We need to know more about the way he was able to dope and especially about the influence of his entourage.
“The Armstrong affair offers a snapshot of the way cycling was a few years ago. I can’t tell you that the sport is perfect today. Things have already changed. Now what we need to prevent this sort of affair is to know more.”
CHRIS HOY, six-times Olympic cycling champion, told reporters: “We’ve got to remember it’s one man . . . it’s not the whole sport. The majority of cyclists, the huge majority of cyclists are clean. We are showing that we can win gold medals and you can be clean and be proud of your sport and show that not all cyclists are like Lance Armstrong.”
