Disgraced cyclist set to admit drug usage on TV show, but won't reveal details
Lance Armstrong plans to admit to doping for the first time in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that will be taped on Monday at the disgraced cyclist’s home in Austin, Texas, USA Today reported.
Lance Armstrong. Pic/Getty Images
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In an article on its website on Friday, USA Today cited “a person with knowledge of the situation” as saying Armstrong plans to admit to doping through his career, but will not go into great detail about specific cases and events.
The announcement that Armstrong had agreed to an interview, to air on Winfrey’s OWN cable TV network on Thursday, sparked widespread speculation that he might finally confess to being a drug cheat after years of denials.
First interview since October
It will be Armstrong’s first interview since he was stripped in October of his seven Tour de France titles after the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said he helped orchestrate the most sophisticated doping program in sports history.
Oprah Winfrey
Nicole Nichols of Winfrey’s OWN network said on Wednesday “no question is off-limits” in the interview, for which Armstrong will not receive any payment.
Last week, The New York Times reported that Armstrong (41) was considering publicly admitting that he used banned performance-enhancing drugs in an apparent bid to return to competitive sport in marathons and triathlons.
On Twitter on Tuesday, Winfrey said: “Looking forward to this conversation with @lancearmstrong.”u00a0Armstrong retweeted that message on his own Twitter account.
Not the right platform
Not everyone is convinced that such an interview is the proper venue for Armstrong to address the issue. “Only Lance would get to have his moment of truth, if that’s what it will be, in front of Oprah Winfrey,” said British cyclist David Millar, who served a two-year ban after admitting doping in 2004 and is now a member of the athletes’ commission for the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Any confession by Armstrong could have legal or financial ramifications.u00a0Since the International Cycling Union effectively erased him from the sport’s record books, British newspaper The Sunday Times has already sued Armstrong for more than £1 million ($1.6 million) over a libel payment made to him in 2006.
The newspaper paid Armstrong £300,000 to settle a libel case after publishing a story suggesting he may have cheated, and now wants that money plus interest and legal costs repaid. u00a0A Texas insurance company has also threatened legal action to recoup millions of dollars in bonuses that it paid to him for multiple Tour
victories.
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