Lance Armstrong - An amazing and determined athlete
Lance Armstrong is a retired professional road racing cyclist. He is most noted for setting a record of winning the Tour de France seven times from 1999 to 2005. Lance Armstrong was named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year in 2002 and he was also named the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005. Lance Armstrong also received ESPN’s ESPY Award in 2003, 2004 and 2005 for Best Male Athlete and he won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality in 2003. At the end of the Tour de France in 2005, he retired from racing.
Lance Armstrong began his career as a triathlete and began competing at the age of 16. It was known then that his strongest talent was racing a bicycle. He won the US amateur championship in 1991 and came in a strong 14th place in the 1992 Olympics road race. After this time, Lance Armstrong turned professional. He continued his success with Team Motorola where he won stages in the 1993 and 1995 Tour de France and also in several one day events. In 1996, after winning the Tour DuPont again, he was ranked the number one cyclist in the world. Read: he was the best!
Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with stage three testicular cancer in October of 1996 and broke the news to the world. He learned that the cancer metastasized and spread to his lungs and brain and he was given a 40 percent chance of survival. After surgery where he had his right testicle removed and lesions fro his brain, he recovered and while in remission began intense training again. He signed with the United States Postal Service Pro Cycling Team and by 1998, he was able to make a successful return to cycling. He won his very first Tour de France in 1999 and went on to win it consecutively for the next 7 years.
The Lance Armstrong Foundation was formed after he beat cancer. The foundation also developed the yellow Livestrong wristband which was sold as an effort to raise money for the foundation. As of January 2006, over 58 million Livestrong wristbands have been sold at $1 each.
Rumors have circulated that Lance Armstrong may get involved in politics and possibly run for Governor of Texas but he has changed his mind and doesn’t believe he’ll be doing it. He would like to be more involved as an activist for change in cancer policies. However, his athletic profession may not be entirely over as he announced to the AP in April 2006 that he plans to compete in the NYC Marathon on November 5, 2006.