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Lance Armstrong ridiculed by sports fans after questions about 'fairness'

The disgraced cyclist said he was speaking up against being 'cancelled', despite fans pointing out the major hypocrisy of his stance.

chris young
Sports Reporter
·4-min read
Lance Armstrong.
Lance Armstrong has been slammed by fans for raising questions of 'fairness' in women's sport, having been cast out of the cycling fraternity in disgrace after years of cheating himself. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Lance Armstrong has roundly been labelled a 'hypocrite' after invoking transgender athletes to discuss 'fairness in sports' in a series of social media posts. The admitted drug cheat, who received a lifetime ban from any sport operating under the World Anti-Doping Authority code in 2012, raised the topic in order to promote an upcoming podcast with Caitlyn Jenner.

Describing himself as someone who is 'all too familiar' with the 'phenomenon' of being 'fired, cancelled or shamed', Armstrong lamented on Twitter that discussions about transgender athletes seemingly resulted in all commentary being shut down. Many followers on social media however, were quick to point out the delicious irony in one of world's sport's biggest cheats weighing in on such a topic and invoking the spectre of being 'cancelled' as a result.

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Deadspin's Julie de Caro was one of a number of people to call out Armstrong for his position, noting that the disgraced cyclist had rarely, if ever, made any meaningful attempts to promote women's sports before deciding now was the time to draw a line in the sand.

"It’s not so much that Armstrong is perhaps the biggest disgraced cheater in the history of sports," she wrote. "It’s not so much that he allegedly threatened to destroy the careers of anyone who accused of him cheating, knowing damn well that he was, in fact, a cheater.

"It’s not so much that Armstrong appears to have zero remorse for his actions and even seems indignant that he has to keep answering for the con job he pulled on the entire world. And it’s not so much his stunning lack of self-awareness that he thinks people want to hear from him on any issue whatsoever, though of course all of that contributed to the collective international eye roll when his tweets went up."

Fans take aim at ridiculous Lance Armstrong claim

Meanwhile, many others took to social media, offering the opinion that the last person with any credibility to talk about integrity in competition was Armstrong. Once the winner of a record seven Tour de France titles, all of those were rescinded after long-running investigations eventually culminated in an admission fo guilt from the now 51-year-old.

Armstrong has been in Australia recently, having been cast in Fox reality TV show, 'Stars on Mars', which was filmed near the South Australian town of Coober Pedy. Amusingly, the SA state government, via the SA Film Corporation, said they were unaware of Armstrong's involvement in the show.

Memorably diagnosed with and subsequently recovering from testicular cancer, Armstrong went on to win a record seven Tour de France titles from 1998 to 2005. He fended off numerous allegations of doping over the course of his career, before admitting to them in a 2013 interview with US television host Oprah Winfrey.

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