- Target:
- U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, World Anti-Doping Agency, World Triathlon Corporation and Ironman Corp.
- Region:
- United States of America
- Website:
- www.facebook.com
Lance Armstrong began his athletic career as a triathlete winning his first race at the age of 13. At 16, Lance Armstrong became a professional triathlete and became national sprint-course triathlon champion in 1989 and 1990 at 18 and 19, respectively.
In 1993 Armstrong focused his attention on cycling and became a decorated cyclist before being diagnosed with stage 3 testicular cancer at the age of 25. The cancer spread to his lungs, abdomen and brain. He had a 20% chance of living. He had surgery removing his diseased testicle and began chemotherapy. He also had brain surgery to remove the tumors on his brain.
After successfully defeating cancer Armstrong went on to win a record 7 consecutive Tour De France titles. With this unrivaled success he mainstreamed cycling in the United States, and used his celebrity and prestige to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for Livestrong and touching an unmeasurable amount of lives in the process.
After retiring from cycling he returned to triathlon in February, 2012 at Ironman 70.3 Panama finishing 2nd overall. He also entered half-Ironman distance races in Texas (7th) and St. Croix (3rd) before breaking through with victories at Ironman 70.3 Florida and Ironman 70.3 Hawaii setting a course record.
In recent weeks his Tour De France titles have been stripped, and he has been banned from cycling and all other sports governed by the US Anti-Doping Agency based on insurmountable evidence that he used performance enhancing drugs during his cycling career. It is yet to be seen whether the titles will go to the second place finishers of those years. Note that the 2nd and 3rd place finishers of all 7 years that Armstrong won his titles have at one point in their careers been suspended for the use of performance enhancing drugs.
This petition calls for the reinstatement of eligibility for Lance Armstrong to race in Ironman events. Armstrong's doping was alleged to be confined to the years of 1999-2005. It has been 7 years since he allegedly used performance enhancing drugs in professional cycling, and a correlation is difficult to draw between those allegations and his current competition in triathlon.
Triathlon is ultimately a completely different sport from cycling. It is the opinion of the undersigned that preventing Armstrong from competing in triathlon is illogical, borderline-immoral (as it is wrong to prevent someone from making a living for themselves) and absolutely unjust.
We, the undersigned, feel that it is a blow to the sport of triathlon and an injustice to not allow Lance Armstrong to compete in Ironman events. We ask that his eligibility be reinstated.
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The Reinstate Lance Armstrong's Ironman Eligibility petition to U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, World Anti-Doping Agency, World Triathlon Corporation and Ironman Corp. was written by Jon Noon and is in the category Sports at GoPetition.