http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_0PSZ59Aws
The disgraced seven time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong has admitted to using banned substances in all seven of his tour wins.
The first part of Oprah’s tell all interview with Lance Armstrong aired on the Discovery Channel last night and to the surprise of many, Lance came out and admitted that he used performance-enhancing drugs during his lengthy cycling career.
“In your opinion, was it humanly possible to win the Tour de France without doping, seven times in a row?” Oprah asked the 41-year-old Texan. “Not in my opinion” was Lance’s emotionless response.
It was an interesting watch and we learned a lot about the now disgraced Tour de France and Olympic medal winner. There were a few weird smiles from Lance during the interview and it felt a little bit awkward at times, but then again, the lad was admitting that he’s a great big phony (see below).
While Oprah had a rake of questions to ask, she failed to ask any great follow up questions and she let him get away with evading others. However, she did ask the career killing questions and in fairness to Lance he replied honestly – we assume. You can watch it above.
Now, while he admitted to using banned substances, he also said he didn’t consider himself a cheat: “I looked up the definition of cheating and the definition is ‘to gain an advantage on a rival or foe’. I did not view it that way. I viewed it as a level playing field.” So basically, because Lance’s rivals were doping he thought it would too, to make things fair.
The first part of the interview is being aired again tonight at 8pm on the Discovery Channel, while the second part of the interview airs at 2am, also on the Discovery Channel. The second part is set to look at Lance’s family, his sponsors and his involvement with the Livestrong Foundation.
The damage has truly been done, and even Lance himself knows it: “This [admission] is too late. It is too late for probably most people and that is my fault.”
Here’s what he had to say about the Irish masseuse Emma O’Reilly:
