Professor – Lance Armstrong is one of the most celebrated athletes in the world, making history in 2005 by winning the prestigious Tour de France bicycle race for the seventh consecutive year. Lance Edward Armstrong, born Lance Edward Gunderson on September 18, 1971, is now an American former professional road racing cyclist. In August 2012 after charging him with doping, the United States anti-doping agency announced that he had received a lifetime ban and that all his results since August 1998 were disqualified. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer support. But let’s look at this with a little bit more detail, shall we. He is more than just an amazing cyclist with phenomenal endurance. He is also a survivor who has inspired millions of people around the world. Indeed, in 1996, Armstrong was diagnosed with cancer. And with the same fierce focus he brings to competition, he tackled his illness and won. Since then, Armstrong has become a leader in the cancer community through the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which focuses on educating the public about early cancer detection and raising money to find a cure for the disease that kills more than half a million people in the United States each year. As Bill Saporito commented in a 2004 Time article, “Given Armstrong’s insane commitment to winning, cancer had better watch out.” He did not remain a cycling amateur for long. In 1990, he became the US national amateur champion. The following year, Armstrong completed the Tour DuPont, which covered 1,085 miles over eleven days and finished somewhere in the middle of the pack, which was admirable given his young age. Later that year, he won Italy’s eleven day Settimana Bergamasca race, and in 1992, Armstrong competed in the Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Although he came in a disappointing fourteenth, scouts and sports analysts predicted great things from the American newcomer. In 1992, when he turned professional, Armstrong was asked to join the Motorola cycling team. After being diagnosed with cancer, Armstrong kept fighting and cycling. He won the Tour de France, took place in the Tour of Hope, and inspired thousands, if not millions. If scripted by Hollywood, the story would be dismissed as a trite melodrama–a deadly disease strikes a promising athlete, despite desperately thin odds, he manages not only to beat the affliction but also to return to the sport and win its top prize not once, but a record, seven times. Unbelievable! Except it’s true; but the story doesn’t end on the finish line at the Tour de France. Armstrong’s experience made him part of the cancer community and motivated him to unleash the same passion and drive that he does in bike races to fight against cancer. He has inspired many and given a lot of advice to many people fighting cancer in turn and therefore, is considered a very generous man. Since he made history in 1999, he has won the Tour de France six more times and has become one of the most recognizable and admired people of this era, and this, not only for the sports, not only for the cancer but for his unequaled will for fighting and winning in many regards.
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