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Lance Armstrong upset at 'double standard,' wonders why people don't hate A-Rod for PED use too
Lance Armstrong said on Thursday that there’s a double standard when looking at caught PEDs users, and doesn’t get why people don’t hate Alex Rodriguez for the same thing, too. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
This article was first published on YahooSports.com on Dec. 6, 2018, and can be seen here.
By Ryan Young | Dec. 6, 2018
Lance Armstrong has all but solidified his place in the wrong side of the sports history books — yet now, years after the former cycling superstar was banned from the sport for life for his infamous use of performance enhancing drugs, it seems he doesn’t understand why.
Armstrong, who was caught doping throughout nearly his entire career, went on the Today show on Thursday morning — though, he didn’t appear on the show to save face, ask for forgiveness or even attempt to bump his stock in the sports world.
Instead, he complained how unfair it’s been for him compared to other PEDs users out there and said he doesn’t feel like a failure.
“I do think there’s a double standard,” Armstrong said. “But I’m OK with it.”
Armstrong won seven Tour de France titles in a row in his career, however had them stripped away after he was caught using PEDs — along with a lot of the cycling world at the time. Armstrong famously confessed to using the drugs to Oprah Winfrey in 2013, shortly after he was banned from the sport for life.
The 47-year-old then compared himself to former New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez, who was banned by Major League Baseball for a full season after he tested positive for PEDs.
He struggled to understand why Rodriguez was able to recover from the incident while he couldn’t — even though he helped raise millions for cancer research through his Livestrong foundation.
“Alex Rodriguez didn’t raise half a billion dollars and try to save a bunch of people’s lives. That’s kind of the irony of this,” Armstrong said. “Look, it’s great when somebody hits home runs and maybe does an event here and there for the Girls and Boys Club. This story held a place in peoples’ hearts and minds that was way beyond those guys.”