Say What!?
Lance Armstrong Needs Our Sympathy
Few public figures are more hated right now than Lance Armstrong.
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey that airs tomorrow night at 9 p.m. EST on OWN, he reportedly admits publicly for the first time to using performance enhancing drugs during his professional career as a cyclist.
On Facebook, Twitter, and blogs, many are responding to the news with anger and disgust -- but at least one writer says Lance Armstrong deserves our sympathy.
Here's why.
In The Daily Caller, television anchor Laurie Dhue writes that like much of nation, she'll be tuning in to the interview tomorrow night. She writes:
I’ll be watching not just to see an admission of guilt, but to see an admission that he’s an addict, just like me, and needs help, just like I did.
Dhue, herself a recovering alcoholic, believes that Armstrong became addicted to doping not for the high, but in order to meet the extraordinary pressure he faced to win. This from her post:
Many people assume that steroids and performance-enhancing drugs are not addictive because there is no “high” associated with their use. But there is, according to Dr. [Scott] Bienenfeld. “Once you try it and it works, you’re expected to perform at a higher level,” he told me. “You taste success and victory and there is definitely a high that comes with it. You realize that you need to keep employing that external enhancer in order to keep winning, otherwise you’ll just be with the herd.”
She hopes to see Armstrong admit not only to doping during Oprah's interview, but also to being an addict. And while she believes he should be held accountable for his actions, she urges us, particularly those in recovery, to show empathy for Armstrong.
Judging from the reactions I'm seeing online, empathy is the last emotion on the minds of most people when it comes to Lance Armstrong. Americans don't take it well when one of their heroes turns out to be a fraud.
As a mother, Armstrong's admission is particularly disappointing -- Lance Armstrong is the kind of man that we want to present to our kids as a role model. To find out he was cheating on such a grand scale is a huge letdown to so many families who viewed Armstrong as a symbol of perseverance and overcoming the odds.
Still, I think Dhue makes some interesting points. What about you?
Does Lance Armstrong deserve our sympathy or our condemnation?
Image via Splash News
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Pinkmani
I don't see what the big deal is. Lance Armstrong is NOT the first athlete to use steroids, but people are making it such a big deal.
Yes, he should have lost his medals. As far as sympathy goes, I don't care that much to even been bad for him or be upset with him. It was expected.
missusmc
The big deal is he has cashed in with sponsorships and received donations for his Livestrong foundation under the guise that he was a healthy, honest individual. He was the epitome of health and revered for overcoming great obstacles and achieving greatness. By doping and qualifying for the races, he beat out those who perhaps did not cheat and fell short of his times; those people were unable to have a chance at fairly racing.
Forget the point that many athletes use steroids for a second. It's a very sad day when someone can cheat and dupe the public and receive accolades, and in response the public says "so what?" Honesty and integrity are important characteristics to have, and more people in public should have it. What he did is a majorly big deal.
peanutsmommy1
Nope, no sympathy for him. He LIED, lied and then lied some more. He had a chance to make it right the first time he got caught, but he has denied it over and over.
Patty
MsRkg
As I see it, he took a sport the no one cares about really and donated millions to a cause that everyone cares about it. The end justifies the means, at least to me in this scenario.
Scott Rita Tierney
My turn
Fondue
This is the man who left his wife during her cancer treatments for Sheryl Crowe. The same wife who stood by him during his cancer treatments. What kind of a human being does that? He doesn't deserve sympathy, as far as I'm concerned.
Jalestra
I think everytime we let someone go for questionable behavior publicly, we are sending a message to our children. It's ok to be dishonest if you're famous, if you're rich, if you do "good" with it, if you win enough games, etc. I don't care about Lance Armstrong as a person, I don't know him (though this behavior does indicate he's of a character I don't want to associate with). However, he won't be someone I encourage my children to admire for various reasons.
Karen Rouchon Haught