Lance Armstrong.
No, not Lance the fallen two-wheeled star whose reputation and cycling legacy is in tatters. The other Lance, the philanthropist and cancer survivor who has inspired so many.
"I know firsthand how much good he's done," said the woman, whose cancer is now in remission but asked that her name not be used because she's a public figure and isn't ready to let the world know about her condition. "He's touched too many lives to stop now. He's given hope to too many people."
Armstrong made cycling cool in America with seven straight Tour de France titles. He will likely be stripped of them all because of what he put in his body.
That Lance is done, gone forever.
We hope the other Lance continues to serve. So many still need him.
"I think saving millions of lives — and I'm not exaggerating by any means — far outweighs any athletic accomplishment," said Olympic swimmer Eric Shanteau, who, like Armstrong, survived testicular cancer.
This is the dichotomy we're faced with after Armstrong decided not to dispute the charges leveled against him by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. He still refuses to acknowledge using any performance-enhancing drugs, but that's essentially what he did when he decided not to carry on the fight. His reasoning — that he was simply tired of contesting accusations that first came up more than a decade ago — rings hollow, to say the least.
After all, he had stared down cancer when told he had less than a 50-50 chance of living. He had turned the towering Pyrenees into tame little hills during all those glorious Tour de France triumphs, refusing to be beaten no matter the physical toll on his body.
To give up now? Well, USADA must've had quite an impressive case against him.
It's time to let go of that Lance — the disgraced doper, like so many in his sport, not to mention one who can be sullen and snarky — and embrace the other side of the man.
The charismatic figure who started a foundation that raised a half a billion dollars, and counting, for the fight against cancer. The caring person who shows up at hospitals unannounced, without an entourage, giving so many victims of this dreaded disease a reason to live. Maybe he does it with a few words. Maybe it's just sitting with them while they're undergoing treatments.
All of it helps tremendously.
"Livestrong has almost made cancer acceptable," said Shanteau, who started working with Armstrong's foundation after he underwent successful surgery. "That's such a dangerous word — to 'accept' — but people are willing to talk about it now. People are willing to address it. People are willing to support it. Livestrong has done that. Lance should be proud that his organization, in a sense, has outgrown him."
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