Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong tried to shed his serious public persona Saturday in Ellicott City by poking fun at the elephant in a room about half-filled with triathletes: his lifetime competitive sporting ban. His host, Brock Yetso, president of the Ulman Cancer Fund, asked the recently dethroned seven-time Tour de France winner why he planned to participate Sunday in the Rev3 Half Full Triathlon at Centennial Park. "You have done a lot of races. … Why are you here? You could race, arguably, any race in the world," Yetso said.

In describing the status of cyclist Lance Armstrong, reporter Jill Rosen somehow managed to turn from straight reportage to editorializing ("To host Lance Armstrong, triathlon drops sanctioning," Sept. 21). Mr. Armstrong has not been proven guilty of anything and has been pursued by the several anti-doping authorities for most of his career. I can only assume that he finally gave up fighting the USADA's most recent attacks because he was worn out after all of this fighting - or maybe it was just the continuing financial cost of defending himself.

Organizers of the charitable Half Full Triathlon are thrilled Lance Armstrong will compete in their October Howard County race. But critics in the sports community aren't sharing their enthusiasm. Because Armstrong has been banned for life from all sports governed by federations, organizers of the 3-year-old Half Full had to give up their status as a sanctioned race to welcome him, losing the prestige that comes with that status and opening the door to critics who say Armstrong's tarnished reputation stains the event.

Despite his lifetime ban by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, organizers of a Howard County race are welcoming Lance Armstrong to town with open arms. Organizers of the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults announced the cyclist will race in their Half Full Triathlon on Oct. 7 alongside fellow cancer survivors in and around Centennial Park. "I couldn't be more excited to welcome Lance back to my hometown to support an event benefiting the organization I created with my family in college," Doug Ulman, the Fund founder and president and CEO of the Lance Armstrong Foundation said in a statement.

The day the United States Anti-Doping Agency announced it was stripping Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France victories and imposing a lifetime competition ban on him was a dramatic one in the world of sports and an even more dramatic one for cancer patients and survivors ("Armstrong backs off fight," Aug. 24). It may be impossible to know whether Mr. Armstrong is innocent or guilty. But the whole "erasure" process seems to be happening a little too quickly. Where have Mr. Armstrong's teammates on the U.S. Postal and Discovery Team who have agreed to testify against him been for the past eight years?

It may be a desire for immortality that pushes some athletes to seek to transcend the limitations of mere mortal bodies through the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Certainly Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner and Olympic champion, seemed well on his way to achieving that status in sports legend. But it all came crashing down on Friday, when he announced he would no longer contest charges by the United States Anti-Doping Agency that his victories were tainted by illegal doping.

Allegations that champion cyclist Lance Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs have been around for years -- and they surfaced again today as the  U.S. Anti-Doping Agency brought formal  charges against him.  Armstrong denied the allegations, but the seven-time Tour de France winner wouldn't be the first pro athlete to be punished while proclaiming his innocence. Still, it would be sad to see Armstrong's good works sullied. He made a remarkable recovery from cancer -- a compelling tale chronicled in the book "It's Not About the Bike.

There is no greater icon in American sports than super-cyclist Lance Armstrong. As virtually everybody knows, this gritty Texan survived a frightening bout with cancer and then won the grueling Tour de France, the Super Bowl of cycling, a record seven times. For years he has dodged accusations that his victories were made possible in part by the use of performance enhancing substances and techniques such as blood doping. At the heart of his defense is his assertion that he has never tested positive in any of the 500 or so occasions when he was tested for the use of PEDs.

Expect a shrug Philip Hersh Chicago Tribune Sports Illustrated added more smoke to the doping cloud around Lance Armstrong this week, so will everyone now see the fire? Unlikely. The magazine's addition to the overwhelming amount of circumstantial and "he-said, she-said" evidence that strongly suggests Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs still is unlikely to sound an alarm among the general public. Even a grand jury indictment may not be enough to do that unless it produces a conviction.