Lance Armstrong to Oprah: Story was 'one big lie'

<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/oZ2BIff9kbs?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><div class="asset-metabar-wrap" style="clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin: 20px 0px 23px 70px;"><div class="asset-metabar" itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(230, 230, 230); display: table-cell; margin: 20px 0px 0px; width: 888px;"><span class="asset-metabar-author asset-metabar-item" itemprop="name" style="float: left; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 14px; margin: 6px 0px 5px; padding: 2px 10px; position: relative;">Brent Schrotenboer, USA TODAY Sports</span><span class="asset-metabar-time asset-metabar-item " style="border-left-color: rgb(225, 225, 225); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; color: #999999; float: left; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; line-height: 14px; margin: 6px 0px 5px; padding: 2px 10px; position: relative;">8a.m. EST January 18, 2013</span></div></div><div class="double-wide" itemprop="articleBody" role="main" style="color: #222222; float: left; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; position: relative; width: 600px;"><div class="article-metadata-wrap" style="float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 30px 0px 60px; position: relative;"><aside class="single-photo expandable-collapsed" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 20px; position: relative; width: 180px; z-index: 100;"><div class="image-wrap" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-shadow: rgb(200, 200, 200) 1px 1px 5px; cursor: pointer; padding: 3px; position: relative;"><img alt="armstrong.jpb" class="expand-img-horiz" itemprop="url" src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2013/01/17/ap-armstrong-oprah-4_3_r536_c534.jpg?1b79b3da202957124496e3768cfb7b67cdb10c81" style="border: 0px; max-width: 100%; min-height: 131px; vertical-align: middle;" /><span class="toggle" style="background-image: url(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/static/images/sprites/asset-sprite.png); background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; bottom: 0px; height: 21px; position: absolute; right: 0px; width: 21px; z-index: 200;"></span></div><div class="image-credit-wrap" style="color: #646464; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; margin-top: 6px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 0px;"><span class="credit" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: 400;">(Photo: George Burns, AP)</span></div></aside><div class="article-metadata" style="position: relative;"><aside class="comp story-highlights " style="clear: left; float: left; margin: 0px 0px 20px; min-height: 60px; width: 180px;"><h3 style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #999999; font-family: 'Futura Today Bold', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px auto; text-transform: uppercase;">STORY HIGHLIGHTS</h3><ul style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; left: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><li style="background-image: url(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/static/images/components/story_highlights_bullets.png); background-position: 0px 17px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #646464; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; padding: 12px 0px 12px 15px;">Cyclist admits to Oprah he used performance-enhancing drugs during all seven Tour de France wins</li><li style="background-image: url(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/static/images/components/story_highlights_bullets.png); background-position: 0px 17px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #646464; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; padding: 12px 0px 12px 15px;">Armstrong says his 'cocktail' was comprised of EPO, re-infusing his own boosted blood, and testosterone</li><li style="background-image: url(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/static/images/components/story_highlights_bullets.png); background-position: 0px 17px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #646464; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; padding: 12px 0px 12px 15px;">He disputes he resumed doping after his comeback, says last time 'he crossed the line' was in 2005</li></ul></aside></div></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Saying his "mythic, perfect story" was "one big lie," Lance Armstrong admitted that he cheated during most of his famed cycling career and that he bullied people who dared to tell the truth about it.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">After denying doping allegations for more than a decade, he also said he used banned drugs or blood transfusions during all seven of his victories in the Tour de France.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"I will spend the rest of my life trying to earn back trust and apologize to people," Armstrong told talk-show host Oprah Winfrey in an interview that aired Thursday night.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><b>LANCE: </b>"I was trying to win at all costs"</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Armstrong, 41, said he started taking performance-enhancing drugs in the mid-1990s and that his "cocktail" of choice was banned testosterone, EPO and blood transfusions using his own boosted blood.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">He disputed that he doped during his comeback in 2009 and 2010, saying the last time he "crossed the line" with banned substances was in 2005, his last victory in the Tour de France.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">But he still said his comeback in 2009 might have doomed him because it gave anti-doping officials a chance to build the case against him. He said the comeback "didn't sit well" with teammate Floyd Landis, who accused Armstrong of doping in 2010.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"We wouldn't be sitting here if I didn't come back," he said.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Instead of telling the truth about his cheating, Armstrong said he kept covering it up because he got swept up in the "momentum" of his own legend. He was the cancer survivor turned superhero, the squeaky clean rider waving the American flag in victory.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"It just gets going, and I lost myself in all that," Armstrong said.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">He also said he didn't think he could compete if he didn't turn to doping because doping was so pervasive in cycling. "I didn't invent the culture, but I didn't try to stop the culture," Armstrong said.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">The 90-minute broadcast was taped Monday in Austin, Texas, Armstrong's hometown. A second portion of the interview will air Friday night.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">It marked the cyclist's first extended public comments since the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency released more than 1,000 pages of doping evidence against him October. The evidence included sworn statements from former teammates and friends who detailed how and when he used performance-enhancing drugs.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Armstrong said he rationalized his use of testosterone because one of his testicles was removed in his fight against cancer. "I thought, 'Surely, I'm running low (on testosterone),'" Armstrong said.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">He also admitted to mistreating people as he tried to preserve the cover-up.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"Yeah, I was a bully," Armstrong said.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Not only did he attack those who told the truth about him, he sued them when they did. At one point, when Winfrey asked him if he had sued Emma O'Reilly, a former team masseuse who told of his doping, Armstrong wasn't sure. "To be honest, Oprah, we sued so many people," he said.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">He called his behavior "inexcusable" and described himself as "a guy who expected to get whatever he wanted and to control every outcome."</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">To make amends, he said he has reached out to those he attacked for telling the truth about him, including O'Reilly and Betsy Andreu, the wife of former cyclist Frankie Andreu. He said he spoke with both Andreus in a 40-minute phone call recently but did not make peace with them.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"No, because they've been hurt too badly," Armstrong said.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">He denied pressuring other cyclists into doping, contrary to their testimony in the USADA case. But he acknowledged he has a credibility problem after defiantly lying about his doping for so long.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"I'm not the most believable guy in the world right now. I understand."</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">He even said he thought he could get away with it last year after the federal government dropped a criminal investigation into whether he committed fraud through his doping scheme. The case was dropped without explanation.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"I thought I was out of the woods," Armstrong said.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">But USADA continued to investigate and offered him the opportunity to cooperate. In response, Armstrong said he could not resist his tendency to defend his turf, no matter what. He turned USADA down and fought back, suing the agency in an effort to challenge its jurisdiction – a lawsuit that eventually was thrown out of court.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"I'd do anything to go back to that day," Armstrong said of the day USADA gave him the opportunity to come clean. "Because I wouldn't fight, I wouldn't sue them."</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">USADA banned him for life from sanctioned events and stripped him of his seven titles in the Tour de France. By coming clean, Armstrong hopes to reduce that ban and compete again - a goal that will require much more than talking to Oprah. Anti-doping officials have made clear that he will have to cough up more details under oath.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">After the broadcast, USADA said in a statement, "Tonight, Lance Armstrong finally acknowledged that his cycling career was built on a powerful combination of doping and deceit. His admission that he doped throughout his career is a small step in the right direction. But if he is sincere in his desire to correct his past mistakes, he will testify under oath about the full extent of his doping activities."</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Livestrong, the cancer-fighting charity Armstrong founded 15 years ago, said in a statement it was "disappointed by the news that Lance Armstrong misled people during and after his cycling career, including us."</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Armstrong stepped down from Livestrong's board in November, saying he did not want his troubles to reflect on the charity.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">The Livestrong statement noted he had apologized to the charity's staff earlier this week, "and we accepted his apology in order to move on and chart a strong, independent course. We look forward to devoting our full energy to our mission of helping people not only fight and survive cancer, but also thrive in life after cancer.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"Even in the wake of our disappointment, we also express our gratitude to Lance as a survivor for the drive, devotion and spirit he brought to serving cancer patients and the entire cancer community."</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">In a preview of Friday's part two of the interview, Armstrong described the day in October when all of his sponsors dropped him after USADA's evidence was released to the public. Referring to his loss in income, he called it a "$75 million day."</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">On his mother's reaction to his admission, he said, "She's a wreck."</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"This is too late," Armstrong said of his confession. "It's too late for probably most people, and that's my fault."</div></div>

Lance Armstrong Oprah Lance Armstrong to Oprah: Story was 'one big lie'

Brent Schrotenboer, USA TODAY Sports 8a.m. EST January 18, 2013 (Photo: George Burns, AP) STORY HIGHLIGHTS Cyclist admits to Oprah he used p...

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