Give Lance his life back!

People who overcome extreme odds should be celebrated not judged for their victories. Lance Armstrong is an athlete who persevered through the hardest of times, accomplishing some of the greatest achievements on record for any athlete. Winning seven Tour de France titles in a row as well as an Olympic medal, Armstrong was an idol for all Americans. Having overcome cancer to go on and become a supreme bicyclist, Armstrong showed the world that a person could overcome the biggest obstacles in life to become a better, stronger person through determination.

Lance Armstrong is a Texas native, born in Plano. He began is athletic career as a swimmer and triathlete, but focused upon biking after he won the U.S. Amateur Championship in cycling in 1991. After this win and amazing performance against trained professionals, Armstrong turned pro in cycling and participated in the 1992 Olympics. He did not come out with an Olympic medal in Barcelona, but Armstrong left a mark upon the sport.

As Armstrong continued to participate and win races worldwide in the cycling world, he also learned life-changing news. In 1996, at age 25, Armstrong learned that he had developed stage three testicular cancer. Armstrong immediately started treatment, chemotherapy, and operations to try and remove the tumor surgically. By the beginning of 1998, Armstrong went into complete remission and started training for competitive cycling again. He had his sights on France.

Armstrong began strenuous training focusing upon conditioning himself for the mountain sections of the Tour de France. Armstrong literally devoted his whole life to the sport of bike racing. And so the records began. In 1999 Lance Armstrong won his first Tour de France title. This pattern was then repeated in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005. From his success in the Tour de France, Armstrong was also able to start his Livestrong movement raising money for cancer survivors and promoting awareness information about cancer, a disease that affects so many people. After the 2005 win, Armstrong retired having broken the record for most consecutive wins of the Tour.

Of course, after setting a record like this, Armstrong was immediately accused of taking steroids and performance enhancing drugs. These allegations were usually dismissed due to the fact that Armstrong has passed over 500 drug tests throughout his cycling career. However, due to new allegations that Armstrong took EPO, a banned naturally occurring hormone known as a "blood booster", Armstrong has been stripped of his seven Tour de France wins, an Olympic win, and the ability to participate in the sport or coach another cyclist.

This punishment comes not because Armstrong admitted to using the banned substance, but because Armstrong did not wish to fight the charges any longer. He came to the point where "enough is enough" and does not wish for his family to be drug though this drama any more. It has become, as some have said, a "witch hunt" for Armstrong. There was no way he could win. I personally believe that to strip Armstrong of his titles, is strip away the glory of what he has accomplished during his life. To overcome, survive, and then compete on a world stage in a difficult sport is something that not many people could ever achieve. To take away Armstrong's titles takes away the role model position Lance has become for so many. Especially to do this when Armstrong was not taking some type of illegal steroid is just mind-boggling. There are sports athletes out there who do use steroids and go unpunished. I think that the only reason Armstrong was targeted was because he was able to accomplish what was thought to be unattainable. It becomes the result of pure jealousy. Because another cyclist was unable to perform at Armstrong's level, Armstrong was targeted. Is that sending the right message to the public? Don't do your best. Just do average. No! If seven wins were Armstrong's best, let him have those seven wins. It will be a goal for the rest of us to strive for.