Lance armstrong biography middle school

In the Olympic Gameshe finished 6th in the time trial and 12th in the road race. Joining him in signing contracts with the French team were teammates Frankie Andreu and Laurent Madouas. Two months later, in Octoberhe was diagnosed with advanced testicular cancer. Cancer diagnosis, treatment, and recovery On October 2,at the age of 25, Armstrong was diagnosed with stage three advanced testicular cancer embryonal carcinoma.

Lance armstrong biography middle school

The cancer had spread to his lymph nodes, lungs, brain, and abdomen. He visited urologist Jim Reeves in Austin, Texas, for diagnosis of his symptoms. On October 25, his brain lesions, which were found to contain extensive necrosiswere surgically removed by Scott A. Shapiro, a professor of neurosurgery at Indiana University. Inhe won the eighth stage and in ; he took stage 18 which he dedicated to teammate Fabio Casartelli who had crashed and died on stage Armstrong dropped out of the Tour after the fifth stage after becoming ill, a few months before his diagnosis.

LeMond said it was a good reason to get cyclists together, went on to say that life doesn't always deal the cards out equal and who knows if Armstrong will get back to the highest level, maybe he retires next year. During an interview Armstrong said the rider he admires the most is Laurent Jalabert, saying that when he's riding well, he's the fiercest competitor in the bunch.

He then entered and won the Tour of Luxembourg. His credibility as a threat was confirmed when he finished 4th in both the road race and time trial at the World Championships. In he won the Tour de France, including four stages. However, the absence of Jan Ullrich injury and Marco Pantani meant Armstrong had not yet proven himself against the biggest names in the sport.

Stage wins included the prologue, stage eight, an individual time trial in Metzan Alpine stage on stage nine, and the second individual time trial on stage InUllrich and Pantani returned to challenge Armstrong. The race began a six-year rivalry between Ullrich and Armstrong and ended in victory for Armstrong by 6 minutes 2 seconds over Ullrich.

Armstrong took one stage in the Tour, the second individual time trial on stage InArmstrong again took top honors, beating Ullrich by 6 minutes 44 seconds. InUllrich did not participate due to suspension, and Armstrong won by seven minutes over Joseba Beloki. During stage eleven and twelve of this Tour is when the race was won as US Postal had Vuelta champ Roberto Heras lead Armstrong up both climbs, breaking the peloton in the process.

Then when Heras' work was done Armstrong took off to claim the stage wins only having to contend with Beloki. Armstrong riding the prologue of the Tour de France The pattern returned inArmstrong taking first place and Ullrich second. Only a minute and a second separated the two at the end of the final day in Paris. Postal won the team time trial on stage 4 and on stage 9 Armstrong nearly crashed out of the Tour lance armstrong biography middle school defending the yellow jersey.

He was less than a minute ahead of Beloki and Alexander Vinokourov was on a solo attack threatening to overtake Armstrong in the standings. Armstrong narrowly avoided the same fate by reacting in time to avoid Beloki, but to do so he went off the road and ended up on a foot trail which led downhill through a field. He survived upright on his bike nearly to the end, at which time he picked it up and carried it the rest of the way to the road at the bottom of the hairpin turn, essentially losing no time as a result.

He could have been fined or penalized for taking a shortcut, but it was deemed unintentional. And Lance said yes. And the doctor asked, what were they? And Lance said, growth hormonecortisoneEPOsteroids and testosterone. I heard it. Ashenden, a paid expert retained by SCA Promotions, told arbitrators that the results painted a "compelling picture" that the world's most famous cyclist "used EPO in the '99 Tour".

The Los Angeles Times article also provided information on testimony given by Armstrong's former teammate, Swart, Andreu and his wife Betsy, and instant messaging conversation between Andreu and Jonathan Vaughters regarding blood-doping in the peloton. Vaughters signed a statement disavowing the comments and stating he had: "no personal knowledge that any team in the Tour de France, including Armstrong's Discovery team inengaged in any prohibited conduct whatsoever.

Armstrong's legal representative Tim Herman stated in June: "When SCA decided to settle the case, it settled the entire matter forever. No backs. No re-dos. No do-overs. SCA knowingly and independently waived any right to make further claims to any of the money it paid. The panel's decision was referred to the Texas th Civil District Court in Dallas on February 16,for confirmation.

Armstrong's attorney Tim Herman stated that the panel's ruling was contrary to Texas law and expected that the court would overturn it. The panel's decision said, in part, about Armstrong that, "Perjury must never be profitable" and "it is almost certainly the most devious sustained deception ever perpetrated in world sporting history".

Armstrong issued a formal, public apology and agreed to pay SCA an undisclosed sum. Justice Department federal prosecutors led an investigation into possible crimes conducted by Armstrong and the U. Postal Service Cycling Team. The Food and Drug Administration and federal agent Jeff Novitzky were also involved in the investigation.

When Novitzky was asked to comment on it, he declined. Further, he was accused of putting pressure on teammates to take unauthorized performance-enhancing drugs as well. It also sought to ban him from participating in sports sanctioned by WADA for life. Armstrong lance armstrong biography middle school not to appeal the findings, saying it would not be worth the toll on his family.

He also received a lifetime ban from all sports that follow the World Anti-Doping Code. As nearly all national and international sporting federations, including UCI, follow the World Anti-Doping Code, this effectively ended his competitive cycling career. Armstrong refused to testify until and unless he received complete amnesty, which Cookson said was most unlikely to happen.

The emails also claimed that other riders and cycling officials participated in doping, including Armstrong. The existence of the lawsuit, initially filed under seal, was first revealed by The Wall Street Journal in In JanuaryUS Justice Department officials recommended joining the federal lawsuit aimed at clawing back money from Armstrong.

He also named people who had transported or acted as couriers, as well as people that were aware of his doping practices. The Department of Justice accused Armstrong of violating his contract with the USPS and committing fraud when he denied using performance-enhancing drugs. The suit was settled for an undisclosed sum one day before Armstrong was scheduled to give a deposition under oath.

They married on May 1,and had three children: a son born October and twin daughters born November The pregnancies were made possible through sperm Armstrong banked three years earlier, before chemotherapy and surgery. In DecemberArmstrong announced that Hansen was pregnant with the couple's first child. Although it was believed that Armstrong could no longer father children due to having undergone chemotherapy for testicular cancer, the child was conceived naturally.

In the July issue of Outside magazine, Armstrong hinted at running for governor, although "not in '06". Busha Republican and fellow Texan, call themselves friends. Also inArmstrong rode again for the Olympic team in Atlanta, Georgia. Looking uncharacteristically fatigued, he finished sixth in the time trials and 12th in the road race. Earlier that summer, he had been unable to finish the Tour de France, as he was sick with bronchitis.

Despite such setbacks, Armstrong was still riding high by the fall of Then the seventh-ranked cyclist in the world, he signed a lucrative contract with a new team, France's Team Cofidis. Battling Testicular Cancer In Octoberhowever, came the shocking announcement that Armstrong had been diagnosed with testicular cancer. Well advanced, the tumors had spread to his abdomen, lungs and lymph nodes.

After having a testicle removed, drastically modifying his eating habits and beginning aggressive chemotherapy, Armstrong was given a 65 to 85 percent chance of survival. When doctors found tumors on his brain, however, his odds of survival dropped toand then to 40 percent. Fortunately, a subsequent surgery to remove his brain tumors was declared successful, and after more rounds of chemotherapy, Armstrong was declared cancer-free in February Throughout his terrifying struggle with the disease, Armstrong continued to maintain that he was going to race competitively again.

Tour de France Dominance At the Tour of Luxembourg, his first international race since returning from cancer, Armstrong showed he was up for the challenge by winning the opening stage. A little over a year later, he capped his comeback in grand style by becoming the second American, after Greg LeMond, to win the Tour de France. He repeated that feat in July and followed with a bronze medal at the Summer Olympic Games.

Armstrong bolstered his legacy as his generation's dominant rider by handily winning the Tour in and However, notching a fifth victory, tying the record held by Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain, proved his most difficult accomplishment. Stricken by illness before the start of the race, Armstrong fell at one point after snagging a spectator's bag, and barely avoided another crash by swerving across a field.

He finished one minute and one second ahead of Germany's Jan Ullrich, the closest of his Tour triumphs. Armstrong was back in top form to claim his record-breaking sixth Tour win in He won five individual stages, finishing a comfortable six minutes and 19 seconds ahead of Germany's Andreas Kloden. After capping his astounding run with a seventh consecutive Tour victory inhe retired from racing.

Return to Competition On September 9,Armstrong announced that he planned to return to competition and the Tour de France in After the race, Armstrong told reporters that he intended to compete again inwith a new team endorsed by RadioShack. Slowed by multiple crashes, Armstrong finished 23rd overall in what would be his final Tour de France, and he announced he was retiring for good in February Drug Controversy Despite the inspiring narrative of Armstrong's triumph over cancer, not everyone was convinced it was valid.

When Lance was three, Linda married Terry Armstrong, who formally adopted him. Linda and Terry later divorced, once again leaving lance armstrong biography middle school and son on their own. Linda was devoted to her only child, and although money was tight she worked long hours as a secretary to make ends meet. Her determination and dedication proved to have a lasting impact on young Armstrong, who today credits his mother for instilling in him his drive and motivation.

Linda bought Armstrong his first bike, a Schwinn Mag Scrambler, when he was seven years old. He immediately began to ride it every day and soon proved that he was a natural athlete. In addition to biking, Armstrong took up running. When he was in the fifth grade he began running six miles a day after school, and soon was entering long-distance competitions on weekends.

Armstrong also tried team sports like football, baseball, and basketball, but found that he was better at activities, like swimming, that required endurance. When he joined the local swim club, Armstrong would ride his bike ten miles to early morning practices, then pedal to school. After school he would jump back on his bike and ride ten miles back to the club to swim more laps.

Barely in his teens, Armstrong was already competing in amateur cycling races. He also began to enter triathlons, contests that combine swimming, biking, and running—all of his favorite activities. At age thirteen, the skilled Armstrong took home the "If you worried about falling off the bike, you'd never get on. Inwhen he was sixteen, Armstrong turned professional in the triathlon.

Because of his amazing success, that same year he was invited to be tested by the Cooper Institute for Aerobic Research in Houston, Texas. Researchers measured the amount of oxygen his lungs consumed during exercise and discovered that he truly was a phenomenon: Armstrong's oxygen levels were the highest the clinic ever recorded, which meant that his lung capacity, so critical for endurance, made him a natural athlete.

He began training with more-experienced riders and quickly rose in the amateur ranks of cycling. Armstrong drew so much attention that when he was a senior at Plano East High School he was approached by the U. Olympic development team and invited to train in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Going to Colorado for six weeks would mean that he might risk not graduating, but the opportunity was too tempting.

After taking private make-up classes, Armstrong did graduate from high school on time in Professional cyclist Armstrong did not remain an amateur for long. Inhe became the U. National Amateur Champion. The following year Armstrong competed in the Tour DuPont, which covers 1, miles over eleven days, and finished somewhere in the middle of the pack, which was admirable given his young age.

Although he came in a disappointing fourteenth, scouts and sports analysts predicted great things from the American newcomer. Inwhen he turned professional, Armstrong was asked to join the Motorola cycling team. Life as a professional cyclist was not without its speed bumps. In his first pro race, Spain's San Sebastian Classic, Armstrong came in last out of a field of participants.