Lance Armstrong in August 2012. Image courtesy of Shutterstock.
Washington Post sports columnist Sally Jenkins has been Lance Armstrong’s most steadfast supporter. How will she respond to the
latest reports that Armstrong relied on performance-enhancing drugs to win all seven
of his Tour de France titles?
When the US Anti-Doping Agency accused Armstrong in August of ingesting drugs to fuel
his climbs in the mountains of France and sprints toward Paris, Jenkins took to the
pages of the Post.
“First of all,” she wrote, “Lance Armstrong is a good man.” She added: “I do know
that he beat cancer fair and square, that he’s not the mastermind criminal the USADA
makes him out to be, and that the process for stripping him of his titles reeks.”
she mentioned she has written two books with Armstrong. Her
defense is well founded.
What now? How will Jenkins defend Armstrong from the reams of documents the USADA
released this week? The agency backs up its damning dossier with financial records,
laboratory results, and witness testimony. Eleven former teammates testified that
Armstrong employed a variety of ruses to evade blood testing that might have incriminated
him. Among them are veteran cyclists George Hincapie, Tyler Hamilton, and Floyd Landis, who himself was stripped of the 2006 Tour title on doping charges.
When USADA first announced its charges in August, Jenkins attacked the messenger.
She asked, “How does an agency that is supposed to regulate drug testing strip a guy
of seven titles without a single positive drug test?”
The USADA appears to have answered that question. It recounts how Armstrong deliberately
avoided testing through a warning system. On one occasion, according to the USADA,
Armstrong dropped out of a race when a teammate alerted him that drug testers were
at the team’s hotel.
Sally Jenkins is one of the Post’s most brave and incisive columnists. In the case of Lance Armstrong, she has tied
herself to his fortunes, to his veracity, to his worthiness as a champion. If he takes
a fall, will she write about it? Will she take one, too?
Jenkins has yet to respond to questions about whether she would write about Armstrong’s
latest travails. Her readers deserve her take.
What Is Post Columnist Sally Jenkins’s Take on Latest Lance Armstrong Charges?
Jenkins has written two books with Armstrong—but what will happen if he takes a fall is unclear.
Washington Post sports columnist
Sally Jenkins has been Lance Armstrong’s most steadfast supporter. How will she respond to the
latest reports that Armstrong relied on performance-enhancing drugs to win all seven
of his Tour de France titles?
When the US Anti-Doping Agency accused Armstrong in August of ingesting drugs to fuel
his climbs in the mountains of France and sprints toward Paris, Jenkins took to the
pages of the
Post.
“First of all,” she wrote, “Lance Armstrong is a good man.” She added: “I do know
that he beat cancer fair and square, that he’s not the mastermind criminal the USADA
makes him out to be, and that the process for stripping him of his titles reeks.”
Three paragraphs into her August 24
column,
she mentioned she has written two books with Armstrong. Her
defense is well founded.
What now? How will Jenkins defend Armstrong from the reams of documents the USADA
released this week? The agency backs up its damning dossier with financial records,
laboratory results, and witness testimony. Eleven former teammates testified that
Armstrong employed a variety of ruses to evade blood testing that might have incriminated
him. Among them are veteran cyclists
George Hincapie,
Tyler Hamilton, and
Floyd Landis, who himself was stripped of the 2006 Tour title on doping charges.
When USADA first announced its charges in August, Jenkins attacked the messenger.
She asked, “How does an agency that is supposed to regulate drug testing strip a guy
of seven titles without a single positive drug test?”
The USADA appears to have answered that question. It recounts how Armstrong deliberately
avoided testing through a warning system. On one occasion, according to the USADA,
Armstrong dropped out of a race when a teammate alerted him that drug testers were
at the team’s hotel.
Sally Jenkins is one of the
Post’s most brave and incisive columnists. In the case of Lance Armstrong, she has tied
herself to his fortunes, to his veracity, to his worthiness as a champion. If he takes
a fall, will she write about it? Will she take one, too?
Jenkins has yet to respond to questions about whether she would write about Armstrong’s
latest travails. Her readers deserve her take.
Most Popular in News & Politics
What It Felt Like for a Virginia Marching Band to Win Metallica’s Contest
Meet the 2023 Washingtonians of the Year
What’s IN and OUT in DC Restaurant Trends for 2024
Introducing 8 of DC’s Most Stylish
Washingtonian Magazine
May 2024: Great Getaways
View IssueSubscribe
Follow Us on Social
Follow Us on Social
Related
13 Major Concerts and Music Festivals in the DC Area This Spring
Mary Timony on Her Emotional New Album, “Untame the Tiger”
The Beatles in DC: A New Exhibit in Maryland Looks Back on Early Beatlemania
Northern Virginia High School Wins Metallica’s Marching Band Competition
More from News & Politics
Maryland Has Renamed an Invasive Fish. Will It Matter?
Meet the 2024 Washington Women in Journalism Award Winners
In the Doghouse: Kristi Noem and 5 Other Canine Political Scandals
Will Jayden Daniels Solve the Commanders’ Woes? NFL Draft History Offers Clues.
DC Area College Students Protest Gaza War at George Washington University Encampment
Here Are the Celebrities Coming to Town for the White House Correspondents Dinner
Insomnia Cookies, Picnic Blankets: Waiting in Line for Trump’s Supreme Court Case
PHOTOS: Demonstrators Gather Outside the Supreme Court as It Hears Arguments on Emergency Abortion Case