The Post’s Cindy Boren agrees, saying the first part of the confession hasn’t won anyone over:
(George Burns/AP) - FILE - In this Monday, Jan. 14, 2013, file photo provided by Harpo Studios Inc., Lance Armstrong listens as he is interviewed by talk show host Oprah Winfrey during taping for the show \"Oprah and Lance Armstrong: The Worldwide Exclusive\" in Austin, Texas. Armstrong confessed to using performance-enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France cycling during the interview that aired Thursday, Jan. 17, reversing more than a decade of denial. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Harpo Studios, Inc., George Burns, File)
The myth of Lance Armstrong ended a long time before the first part of his interview with Oprah Winfrey ran Thursday night and it isn’t likely that he changed any minds with his admission of doping and bullying.
Travis Tygart, head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, said in a statement that Armstrong’s mea culpas were “a small step in the right direction,” but the night’s winner was Winfrey, not Armstrong. He may have admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs (specifically, he said his “cocktail” of choice was EPO, testosterone and blood transfusions), but the first step of his apology tour fell flat. Gaining the world’s affection and admiration won’t be as easy for Armstrong this time around.
Armstrong’s comments were “new and noteworthy,” Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News writes, “only because one of the great phonies and great frauds in the history of sports was finally saying this himself, not saying he was clean when he wasn’t, not attacking the real truth tellers, not suing anybody who tried to cross him, not calling his accusers crazy and calling them whores.”
Armstrong spoke of his bullying and his predilection for suing anyone who dared whisper that he was doping. He admitted that he set out to ruin people like Emily O’Reilly, his team’s former masseuse who honestly spoke of a failed test for cortisone. He apologized, but said nothing about having called her a prostitute and a drunk. He said precious little about the Andreus, whom he had threatened to crush.
Armstrong still faces legal challenges that deal with the doping allegations. Liz Clark writes:
Former teammate Floyd Landis has targeted not only Lance Armstrong but also three of Armstrong’s closest associates — his longtime manager, his closest friend and his deep-pocketed benefactor — in the whistleblower lawsuit that has been under judicial seal for more than two-and-a-half years.
And Landis reserves the right to add others to the so-called qui tam suit, which claims that Armstrong and his associates defrauded the federal government by accepting roughly $30 million in sponsorship money to bankroll a U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling team that was fueled by performance-enhancing drugs.
The 33-page lawsuit, which has been under seal since it was filed June 10, 2010, was leaked and posted on a blog Thursday, roughly nine hours before the first installment of Armstrong’s interview with Oprah Winfrey was to air. After more than a decade of vehement denials, Armstrong confesses in the interview to having doped during a career that included seven Tour de France championships and an Olympic bronze medal—all of them now stripped.
The U.S. Justice Department faced a Thursday deadline to decide whether to join Landis’s action but is believed to have requested an extension. Federal officials are reportedly divided on whether pursuing the case represents a prudent use of taxpayer dollars.
Related:
Armstrong gets specific…to a point
Armstrong/Oprah: The Interview
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