July 24, 2005, 10:51PM
Impact felt far beyond string of wins
By RICHARD JUSTICE
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
Years from now when the grandkids ask you about the most amazing thing you've seen in sports, you'll have an easy answer.
Because you'll remember Lance Armstrong. You'll remember his strength, courage, dignity, compe ive fire and accomplishment. You'll remember that there was never anyone like him.
Today we're celebrating his seventh consecutive victory in the Tour de France. No one else has won more than five.
We don't know much more about the Tour de France in this country. We don't understand the various stages or the strategy. We only know it's one of the world's most difficult athletic endeavors.
And we know Lance Armstrong owned it for seven years. We know the bike is only a stage prop for the really amazing part of the story.
Winning? Hey, lots of people win. They make soaring dunks and launch moon-shot home runs. They hit in 56 consecutive games, win 18 major tournaments and go 17-0. They're doing special things all the time.
Setting him apart
That stuff seems routine stacked against what Lance Armstrong has done. He has a number, too — three of them.
The three most amazing numbers in sports.
10-12-96
That's the day he received a death sentence. That's the day he was told he had testicular cancer, and oh by the way, it has spread to your brain, lungs and abdomen.
We've heard that part of the story so often it now seems normal. But it's not. It's the part that's still almost beyond our comprehension. It's why Armstrong is unlike any other athlete.
He was supposed to die. And even if he didn't die, the cancer treatments and surgeries would keep him from ever being a world-class athlete again.
That assumption is hard to believe when you see him now, looking so invincible and competing at such a superhuman level.
There's another Lance at wearyellow.com. Go there and see what he looked like after surgery. Look at those sunken eyes. Look at the scar on his head.
It's almost impossible to look at that scar and that gaunt frame and to see the guy who toys with compe ors, who crushes them methodically.
It's not as easy as it looks
He has succeeded in making something that requires superhuman strength and endurance seem routine.
Six days after his diagnosis in 1996, Armstrong called a news conference.
"I intend to beat this disease," he said in a halting voice, "and further, I intend to ride again as a professional cyclist."
That scene and those words stand in incredible contrast to the familiar one of him raising a glass on the Champs-Elysées.
He's a hero to millions, not because he's as tough and driven as any athlete who ever lived, not because he's at his best during the incompre-hensibly difficult mountain stages, not because he wins.
He's a hero because he survived. He's a hero because he symbolizes hope. He's why Nike has sold 50 million of those yellow Livestrong bracelets.
He won his first Tour de France less than three years after learning he had cancer. He's not a warm person and has never told the story as well as others might have. No matter.
His impact is real. He's why the breast-cancer survivor runs a marathon. He's why the masters swimmer gets back in the water while undergoing treatment.
He's why your neighbor is going to do that six-mile walk, the radiation treatments be damned.
He has inspired millions to do things they didn't think they could do. If Lance can deal with the fear and the treatment, they reason they can, too.
If this really is it for Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France, if he returns to Austin for good to help raise his kids, his legacy will endure. Those he touched will remind us of his lasting contribution.
He emphasized in recent days that he'll do fine in retirement. He said he might run marathons or compete in triathlons to feed the compe ive part of his soul.
He mentioned the possibility of an eighth Tour only at the beginning of this race. He wanted to perform well enough to leave the impression he could win again if he felt like it.
But on Sunday, he emphasized there won't be an eighth victory.
"I'm ready to move on," he said.
Last year's win, his record-breaking sixth, was the one that mattered. He rode this time because he promised his new sponsor, the Discovery Channel, he would.
Considering the warp speed at which he has lived life the last nine years, it's tough to see him slipping into the relaxed existence he speaks of. But it's hard to imagine a lot of things about Lance Armstrong.
Here's wishing him the best in whatever's ahead. And thanking him for what he's leaving behind. Godspeed, Lance.
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what was the day he left the wife that bore him 3 beautiful children for an old ass skank?
him. if he was a black man everyone and their dog would be riding his ass about that. but since he's white, it's "divorce" and not being just another dirty darkie.
i don't give a about lance armstrong. him and all the wannabees that tempt me to run their fat spandex wearing asses over when im out on the road in a car, which is what roads are made for you mother s.
2 kids
The boy is his step son
There are divorces in every family. He has not abandoned his kids, he is there for them and is very much a part of their lives. If you think he is a bad man because he did not love his wife any more then you have some problems.
Unfortunately, nobody remotely involved with the Chronicle bothered to go to that website.
If they had, they would have seen it was October 2, 1996.
They have it correct on their Web site now, but apparently not when Jim posted the article.
Last edited by Johnny_Blaze_47; 07-25-2005 at 10:04 AM.
That is the only reservation I have about the guy... I don't know the cir stances of his divorce and it's none of my business, but I couldn't respect him as a person whatsoever if he walked out on his wife who stayed with him through his recovery without a damn good reason.
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