SPEAK OUT: Are Lance Armstrong Doping Charges Unfair?
Howard County Executive Ken Ulman weighs in.
Photos
Is there an unfair crusade going on against the famed cyclist and former cancer patient Lance Armstrong, who is facing renewed allegations of doping?
The debate is flowing across the Internet and on Wednesday, Howard County Executive Ken Ulman, whose brother, Doug Ulman, is the CEO of Armstrong's cancer charity Livestrong, weighed in from his Facebook page.
“Let's focus on what matters most for our nation & not continue to chase a man who has done more in the fight against cancer than anyone else,” Ken Ulman posted to his public Facebook page on Wednesday night.
Armstrong, 40, has denied allegations of using performance enhancing drugs and participating in a “doping conspiracy.” He was formally charged by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and faces losing his victories as a seven-time Tour de France winner, according to an Associated Press story on the Huffington Post.
On his Twitter page, Armstrong called the agency’s move a “witch hunt.”
“I have never doped, and, unlike many of my accusers, I have competed as an endurance athlete for 25 years with no spike in performance, passed more than 500 drug tests and never failed one,” Armstrong said in a statement.
Armstrong is also a testicular cancer survivor who formed the Lance Armstrong Foundation to help others struggling with cancer.
Ken Ulman's brother, Doug Ulman, is a three-time cancer survivor and is the president and CEO of Livestrong, Armstrong's cancer charity.
Doug Ulman and his family also founded the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults, a Columbia-based nonprofit that helps young adults affected by cancer and their families.
The USADA is accusing Armstrong of “using and promoting the use of the blood booster EPO, blood transfusions, testosterone, human growth hormone and anti-inflammatory steroids,” according to a copy of an agency letter obtained by the Associated Press.
Tell us below: What do you think of the allegations against Armstrong?
H.R. Pufnstuf
11:32 am on Thursday, June 14, 2012
The USADA is a private group spending their own money, so the only thing I care less about than what they're doing to Lance Armstrong is Ken Ulman's opinion of what they're doing to Lance Armstrong.
Lisa Rossi
11:40 am on Thursday, June 14, 2012
If anyone is interested in reading more, I just found Livestrong CEO Doug Ulman's full response to the Armstrong allegations: http://blog.livestrong.org/2012/06/13/note-from-ceo-doug-ulman-on-usada-action/
"In our eyes, Lance will always remain a champion," Doug Ulman wrote in the statement. "Nothing can shake our faith in him as a leader and trailblazer on behalf of cancer survivors."
H.R. Pufnstuf
12:23 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Ken Ulman's facebook message is shockingly stupid. The only people chasing Armstrong for doping is the non-governmental USADA, whose job it is, according to the customs of the competitive cycling industry, to CHASE PEOPLE FOR DOPING.
The fact that Armstrong has raised money to fight cancer is wholly irrelevant to the question of keeping the cycling industry free of doping. If Ken's brother wasn't employed by the LA Foundation, Ken wouldn't speak one word about this.
BOH
11:15 pm on Friday, June 15, 2012
I would like to know what compelling evidence the USADA has to "charge" (and I use that word loosely, since they aren't a juridicial entity) LA with anything. Is it more compelling than the countless passed tests, past allegations discredited, etc.? Or is this just one of those things where they'll charge first and let the suspect dig his way out of the muck of presumed guilt?
H.R. Pufnstuf
11:37 pm on Friday, June 15, 2012
Lance is probably better at getting public opinion on his side and playing the cancer card than any of the other cheaters. Many of the people on his team were doping. The entire sport lacks integrity. The chance of his amazing success not being the result of cheating is very slim. If he wasn't doping, he should bend over backwards to prove it.
If Ken Ulman's brother came in second place to Lance at the TdF rather than getting a paycheck every week from the LAF, Kennay would be singing a very different tune. Believe that!