Research Dossier

Prepared by: Makayla Presgrave

Research Subject: Lance Armstrong Doping Scandal

Organizing Methodology: I examined news articles, sports blogs and

videos related to my topic in order to become more informed about the
incident and the many different opinions formed that followed the
actions of a major athlete. I organized my data according to these
phases:

Phase 1: Denial: shift of blame, avoiding responsibility.

Phase 2: Diminishing: making excuses, justifying wrongdoing.
Phase 3: Repair: apologies and corrective action.

Code Key:
I will be using the terms Logos, Pathos and Ethos to analyze
statements and information that I have gathered regarding the date I
have collected about Armstrongs doping. Logos refers to logic, reason,
or proof, Pathos appeals to emotion and values and Ethos relates to
credibility and trust. Symbols such as, + and -, will be used to reflect
whether or not the information found are positive or negative towards
the cycling world or Armstrongs career.

Background of Lance Armstrong:

Lance Armstrong was an icon in the world of cycling at an early age,
and began his professional career in 1992 after competing and winning
the national sprint course triathlon in 1989-1990. In 1993, Armstrong
competed in his First Tour de France Individual Stage. After beating
famous cyclist, Miguel Indurain, in the World Championship in Oslo, he
caught the attention of the cycling scene. From then on, Armstrong
became one of the most well known cyclists around the world. He
competed in multiple competitions, with the Tour de France being the
most well known. As his success continued, more and more people
began to question how it could be possible for one man to be so great
at something. After overcoming stage three testicular cancer, and
returning to the races better than ever, his cycling capabilities started
to become a phenomenon that few people had ever seen before and
could believe.

Crisis Timeline:

2005
After winning his seventh Tour de France in a row, accusations of
doping began to arise when mentioning Armstrongs success. The
newspaper I,Equipe contained an article that accused Armstrong of
having EPO in several [of his] urine samples during the 1999 Tour de
France, when these were retested for research purpose
(Fotheringham). Reports were commissioned into the affair by the UCI,
but it had little affect on Armstrongs career.
2008-2009 Accusations began to form
After taking a two year break from his profession, Armstrong
announced that he was going to reenter the cycling world. He was able
to enter into the Tour Down Under in January of 2009 even though he
was supposed to be ineligible until February 1st, but he was permitted
to compete anyways. After coming in 3rd in the 2009 Tour de France, he
competes in the Amgen Tour in California and crashes, resulting in him
being taken to the hospital immediately. The same day he entered the
hospital he denies allegations of doping made by former team-mate
Floyd Landis (Fotheringham).

2010-2011 Armstrong slowly removes himself from the

spotlight
Armstrong hired a lawyer to represent him in a federal investigation
into allegations of fraud and doping (Fotheringham), and placed 23rd
in his final Tour de France. In 2011, Armstrong announced his
retirement and explained how he wanted to devoted his time to family
and the fight against cancer.

2012 More accusations made, leading to denial

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency notified Armstrong that a new
investigation of doping was charged against him. After hearing this
news, Armstrong filed a federal lawsuit in a Texas District Court to halt
the doping case against him (Fotheringham), denying the accusations
regarding the relationship between his outstanding athletics
performance and dug usage. After the federal judge dismisses
Armstrongs lawsuit, Armstrong declares he will no longer fight
charges of illegal doping (Fotheringham). Shortly after this
announcement was made, USADA said it would strip Armstrong of his
seven Tour de France titles and impose a lifetime ban on him. After this
news was released, Armstrong stepped down as a chairman of Live
Strong. Also, Nike terminated their contract with him and announced
they would not be renewing his contract after it expires in 2012, and
the UCI stripped Armstrong of the seven 1st place Tour de France titles
he won all within the last decade.

2013 And the truth comes out

After being stripped of almost every title he had ever won, Armstrong
lost his bronze medal he earned in the 2000 Olympic Games. In an
interview with Oprah Winfrey, Armstrong bluntly admitted that he had
been doping and did not see it as a form of cheating at the time of
doing so. Million dollar lawsuits were filed against Armstrong and his
company, Tailwind Sports.

Coding and Analysis of Crisis Timeline

The main issue with Armstrongs actions regard to pathos, with some
ethos as well. Professional athletes are looked up to by adults and
children throughout the world for their hardwork, dedication and
passion to the sport they play, so when rumors of misbehavior on any
degree is released to the public, the view towards the athlete is
extremely negative. In Armstrongs case, he was able to hide the truth
for such a long time that not only did he cheat to win, he continued to
cheat and win while lying after accusation of his doping had been
made.

Phase 1: Denial and excuses

Beginning in 2001, Lance Armstrong had been denying the usage of
performance enhancing drugs, otherwise known as doping. In the
link placed below, there is a video of multiple different interviews of
Lance Armstrongs denying the usage of performance enhancing
drugs. In each clip, he denies the accusations made and follows his
denial with an excuse regarding something along the lines of the
facts, his success, or his past health conditions.
Lance Armstrong Denies Using Drugs through the years
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aJmYmasQhc

Phase 1 Analysis: Pathos +/-

At the time of these interviews, the public continued to view Armstrong
as a loyal athlete who is passionate about the sport he participated in.
After overcoming a severe health condition, Armstrong was seen as a
true hero in the eyes of some of his supporters. When these
interviews were released, the character of Armstrong was still in tact
but as time has gone on and the truth has been revealed, he is
perceived as a lying phony who did whatever he could to cover up his
wrong doings. A decade ago, Armstrong appears to be a true athlete,
but in modern days he is just seen as a washed up professional who
earned a living by lying and cheating. Comments made by viewers of
this are: Lances mistake was making enemies and putting himself in
too much of the publics eye. Several other champions clearly doped
but they got away with it as they were smarter and Its all about
power, money attention and ego. Hes a narcissist, no different than a
cheat like Mark McGuire or Sammy Sosa (YouTube). These comments
explain two different points of view about the situation at hand. One
viewer sees Armstrongs wrong doings as common but not sly, while
other viewers see it as unethical and overall morally wrong.
 Comments Perceptions Appeals
Why would I enter a People use Logos -
sport and dope performance
myself up and risk enhancing drugs
my life again? I because winning and
dont know money, being the best
power, fame, to comes with a lot of
bang supermodels? perks and benefits.
Doping has always Armstrong was Ethos/ Pathos -
been widespread in targeted for doping
cycling and especially because of his status
since the late eighties. and pompous
All Lances main
behavior, but all
competitors doped.
They went after him
athletes competing
because he was a against him were
[jerk] not because he doing the same
was the only doper thing, they just
werent as
successful.
Stone cold liar It has become a Pathos -
reply to comment- norm for professional
they have to lie to athletes to lie and
become champions cheat their way to
the top because in
order to compete
and be the best that
is what has to be
done.
Summary: three negative, one logos negative, one ethos negative
and two pathos negative.

Phase 2: Making excuses and justifying wrong doings

After accusations were made regarding Armstrong and possible doping,
and lawsuits were filed against the professional athlete, the reputation
of an all star began to slowly go downhill. Once the rumors were
beginning to be proven true, Armstrong started to lose everything. Not
only was he stripped of his seven Tour de France titles, he slowly lost
his endorsement contracts with Nike and Oakley, and was removed as
chairman of Live Strong.
According to the Wall Street Journal that covered an interview between
Oprah and Armstrong, Armstrong proclaimed that [taking] banned
substances was like saying we have to have air in our tires and we
have to have water in our bottles (Albergotti). Armstrong was making
an excuse by saying that doping and performance enhancing drugs
have become such a norm in cycling that it was pretty much essential
for him to take these drugs in order to compete. As the interview
progressed, Armstrong proclaimed that he did not suit the definition of
a cheater. The definition of the work cheat is to gain an unfair
advantage, which Armstrong explained was inaccurate to use when
describing his behavior because he was not the only person using EPO
drugs in order to enhance his performance, many of his competitors
were doing the exact same thing he was. (Albergotti). Although
Armstrong committed to the crimes he was accused of, he
continuously gave reporters excuses as to why he did what he did. Not
only did he go against the rules of a professional sport, but he
continued to lie about his actions for over a decade, which is not only
illegal but extremely impressive. Some have called Armstrongs
incident the scandal of the century.

Phase 2 Analysis: Pathos

After admitting to the crimes he had convicted, Armstrong opened the
flood gates to massive amounts of rage and hatred from both his
haters and fans throughout the world. Those who viewed Armstrong as
a legend and hero felt mislead and those who viewed him as a liar and
cheater felt as if Armstrong had finally gotten what he deserved.
Rather than taking responsibility for his actions and being gracious,
Armstrong continued to make up excuses for his behavior and loss the
respect of thousands for his incapability to be responsible for his own
wrong doings. In an attempt to receive some sort of sympathy,
Armstrong does his best to appeal to his audience by justifying his
actions, but this whole scandal has gone too far for him to get himself
out of the hole he has already dug.

Phase 3: Repair and corrective action

After years of denial and scandal, it appears as if Lance Armstrong was
able to finally put down his high strung persona in order to apologize
for his wrong doings and take responsibility for his actions in the past.
Rumors spread about Armstrong getting in contact with the foundation,
Live Strong, to give them a verbal apology for his past actions.
However, not many others received apologies from Armstrong like Live
Strong did. In most cases, once a criminal is proven guilty they show
some sort of guilt in order to gain the slightest bit of respect from their
audience back, but Armstrong did differently. After admitting his wrong
doings, Armstrong proceeded to proclaim that he did not see anything
wrong with his actions and he was just doing what needed to be done
in order to be the best.
Compared to doping in other athletics, Armstrongs punishment was
quite brutal. The length and severity of his doping was for sure one of
the highest in the recent history of athletics, but a good point is made
in an article titled The Real Reason Athletes Dope: Beyond the
money, two other factors enter the analysis: the length of suspension
and the lack transparency. While Armstrong was forced to contend with
WADA rules and a lifetime ban, the penalties for getting caught in the
NFL and MLB are pretty light and the testing is beatable on many
levels (Joyner).
Depending on the person, what WADA did in Armstrongs case may be
too brutal compared to the punishments of other athletics, but taking
the circumstances into consideration is something that has to be
noted. The length, severity and lack of responsibility from Armstrong
clearly proved that he did not deserve the title of a professional athlete
and hero to many.

Phase 3 Analysis: Pathos/Ethos

The behavior of Armstrong pre and post admitting to his wrong doings
shows little to no empathy for what he had done, causing people to see
him as unreliable, inconsiderate and fake. But the other point
examined in this section is the fact that athletes participating in other
sports are doing similar actions like Armstrongs and are receiving less
of a punishment or not getting caught. The controversial topic of
whether or not doping is right or wrong is a constant issue being
discussed and examined by WADA officials. The culture of sports has
been evolving rapidly over the last few decades, and its essential to
focus on the main purpose of athletics rather than the money, fame
and fortune that can come along with being the best.

Analysis and Conclusion

Lance Armstrong was one the most known and successful cyclists to
ever exist in the sport, but his profession and stardom ended abruptly
once the truth of his talent began to unravel. Although Armstrong
received severe punishment for his actions and is never allowed to
participate in professional athletics again, doping within all professional
sports continues to exist and is becoming more and more difficult to
regulate. WADA and USADA are doing their best to remove
performance enhancing drugs from professional athletics in order to
keep the playing field clean and fair. By doing so, athletics will be able
to return to being based completely on pure talent and hardwork,
rather than who can be the slyest and dope without getting caught.
Although Armstrong was a legend during his career, he did so by
becoming something was not.

Works Cited
Albergotti, Reed, and Vanessa O'Connell. "Lance Armstrong Admits to
Doping, 'One Big Lie'" The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones &
Company, 18 Jan. 2013. Web. 9 Nov. 2016.
Fotheringham,William. "Timeline: Lance Armstrongs Journey from
Deity to Disgrace." TheGuardian. Guardian News and Media, 8
Mar. 2015. Web. 9 Nov. 2016.
Joyner, Michael J. "The Real Reason Athletes Dope." Outside. Mariah
Media Network LLC., 13 Aug. 2013. Web. 9 Nov. 2016.
Lance Amstrong Denies Using Drugs through the Years. Perf. Lance
Armstrong. 2013. Youtube.