Only the Armstrong Survive

Today, July 24, 2005, Lance Armstrong won his seventh Tour de France in a row, perhaps a record that may never be broken. Up until now, the most anyone had ever won was five Tours, and several people had done that. Lance was the first to win six, then seven Tours. One can easily believe he could win an eighth, were he so inclined, but he has already publicly stated that he plans to retire after this.

Armstrong's achievements are not just considered amazing because of seven in a row, but further, that he is an American in a predominantly European sport. His own team only has one other American. Greg LeMond, who won the Tour three times (1986, 1989, 1990), is the only other American to have ever won the tour. Before Armstrong, interest in biking was not very high. In fact, interest in nearly any sport that is not mostly played in the United States has always been low.

However, Armstrong's other huge achievement, if you can really call it that, is that he is a cancer survivor. In 1996, Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer which had spread to his abdomen, lungs, and brain. With treatment, he was able to survive, and excel. Due to his bout with cancer, he lost twenty pounds, which made him more fit to bike than before he had cancer.

Armstrong is often held as a role model for cancer survivors, and while I find that fine, there is one thing that bothers me. We all want to believe that killer diseases can be beaten by simply being strong. Yet, Armstrong would probably be the first to tell you that there's not much correlation with being strong, in the sense we think of strong, and beating a disease. It's as much roll of the dice as anything.

Strong, caring individuals have succumbed to the disease. Rude, difficult people have survived the disease. In fact, word is that Lance Armstrong is not that pleasant of a person. In his book, he talks about how his wife was devoted to him through his illness, yet, he didn't stick with her when he got better. I'm not sure he necessarily owes his wife that, nor does he owe the public being Mr. Nice Guy, but don't equate being successful with being someone respectable.

Having said that, I don't think Armstrong is necessarily really bad either. As a ultracompetitve athlete, striving to be the best, Lance Armstrong probably has character traits that many of us can't relate to. Even if there are athletes that are successful and are great to get along with, we can't always expect this.

In any case, I can't stand ads like Nike's that talk about how strong Lance is in overcoming cancer. Winning the Tour seven times is remarkable. Having come back from cancer is remarkable. But don't make it sound like his "fight" was what got him through the disease. His fight, his training, and preparation got him his seven wins. And that is one thing you can cheer, if you like.