Story highlights
- In question is whether USADA can strip Armstrong of his 7 Tour de France titles
- Armstrong says they can't; global cycling governing body wants more info
- Armstrong has announced he will not contest USADA charges that he doped
- The 40-year-old legendary cyclist still maintains he's innocent
Lance Armstrong, seven-time winner of the Tour de France, on Thursday announced he would no longer contest charges that he doped his way to victory. The 40-year-old legendary cyclist still maintains he's innocent.
Here are five key questions and answers to help you better understand the complicated development in a longstanding controversy involving one of the most achieving endurance athletes of all time:
1. What has Armstrong been accused of and what does he say?
The United States Anti-Doping Agency charged Armstrong with doping and trafficking of performance-enhancing drugs. Several members of Armstrong's former team also were charged.
Armstrong vehemently maintains that he has never doped and that he has never failed a drug test. He accused the USADA of pursuing an "unconstitutional witch hunt" against him and he maintained the USADA does not have the right to prosecute him. On Monday, a U.S. Federal Court ruled against the cyclist.
The cyclist explained Thursday that he would no longer fight the charges, saying that the ongoing battle had taken a toll on him personally and on his family.
Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs
Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs
Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam champion and the world's highest-paid female athlete, admitted that she failed a drug test at the Australian Open in January. She tested positive for meldonium, a recently banned substance that she said she had taken since 2006 for health issues. She will be provisionally banned by the International Tennis Federation on March 12. Click through the gallery to see other athletes accused of using drugs to boost their careers.
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Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs
In February, New York Mets pitcher Jenrry Mejia became the first player to be permanently suspended by Major League Baseball after he tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance. MLB said Mejia tested positive for boldenone, an anabolic steroid that athletes use to increase muscle mass.
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Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs
New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez confessed to using performance-enhancing drugs in a meeting with the Drug Enforcement Administration in January 2014. Rodriguez told DEA investigators that he had used banned substances, including testosterone cream, testosterone gummies, and human growth hormone, between late 2010 and October 2012. He was suspended for the entire 2014 season.
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Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs
Olympic sprinter Tyson Gay was banned for one year after he tested positive for a prohibited anabolic steroid in 2013. The four-time U.S. champion in the 100 meters received a reduced punishment from the two-year suspension standard for cooperating with authorities. The 4x100 relay team he was on was stripped of the silver medal it won in the 2012 Olympics. Gay returned to racing in 2014.
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Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs
Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs in 2011, the year he was National League MVP. He said he took a cream and a lozenge with banned substances while recovering from an injury.
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Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs
In 2013, Lance Armstrong admitted to doping throughout his cycling career. The seven-time Tour de France champion confessed to using testosterone, human growth hormone and blood transfusions to enhance his performance.
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Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs
Mixed martial arts fighter Alistair Overeem failed a random drug test in 2012 and admitted to injecting himself with a substance that contained testosterone, prescribed for a rib injury. He was suspended for nine months.
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Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs
Barry Bonds, baseball's all-time home run leader, was convicted of an obstruction charge in 2011 after he impeded a grand jury investigating the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Bonds had testified that he thought his personal trainer was giving him arthritis balm and flaxseed oil, not steroids or testosterone.
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Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs
Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing was suspended for four games after testing positive for a drug called human chorionic gonadotropin in 2010.
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Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs
Cyclist Floyd Landis admitted in 2010 to using performance-enhancing drugs for most of his career. Landis used the red-blood-cell booster erythropoietin, known as EPO, along with testosterone, human growth hormone and frequent blood transfusions. He was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France win and suspended from cycling for two years.
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Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs
In 2008, Olympic track star Marion Jones was sentenced to six months in prison for lying to federal prosecutors investigating the use of performance-enhancing substances.
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Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs
Former New Orleans Saints defensive lineman Charles Grant tested positive for banned substances in 2008 and was suspended for the rest of the season.
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Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs
Retired New Orleans Saints running back Deuce McAllister tested positive for a banned diuretic in 2008.
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Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs
Shawne Merriman, then of the San Diego Chargers, was suspended for four games after testing positive for steroids in 2006. He retired in 2013 after eight NFL seasons.
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Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs
Baseball slugger Mark McGwire evaded questions about steroid use when speaking to Congress in 2005. But in 2010, he admitted that he had used steroids during the 1990s.
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Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs
Home-run hitter Sammy Sosa was among the players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003, according to the New York Times.
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Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs
Former NFL linebacker Bill Romanowski appeared on "60 Minutes" in 2005 and admitted to using steroids and human growth hormone during his career.
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Armstrong won't fight doping charges 05:22
A snapshot of Lance Armstrong's future 02:56
Can the USADA strip Armstrong's titles? 02:33
2. What does Armstrong's decision not to contest USADA's charges mean?
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency is the body responsible for monitoring drug testing for U.S. Olympic and Paralympic sports for athletes in and out of active competition. USADA says Armstrong's decision not to contest the charges means there will be no hearing on the actual charges and as a result he will receive "a lifetime period of ineligibility and disqualification of all competitive results from August 1, 1998, through the present."
3. What about Armstrong's record seven Tour de France titles?
Right now it's unclear what this will mean for the seven wins. USADA says that Armstrong will be "disqualified from any and all competitive results obtained" since August 1, 1998.
USADA says that Armstrong will be stripped of seven Tour titles, all of his other titles and the bronze medal he won at the 2000 Olympics. Travis Tygart, USADA's CEO, told the New York Times that it also means that Armstrong cannot coach or have any "official role" with any Olympic sport or other sport that adheres to the World Anti-Doping Code.
However, the International Cycling Union, based in Switzerland, the world governing body for cycling, said Friday that it will not act until it hears directly from USADA, suggesting it wants to see more details on the case.
It's unclear if USADA has the power to "strip" Armstrong of his Tour de France titles or if that jurisdiction lies with the UCI.
Officials with the Tour de France are waiting before they comment on Armstrong's case, the Washington Post reports.
On his site, Armstrong wrote: USADA cannot assert control of a professional international sport and attempt to strip my seven Tour de France titles. I know who won those seven Tours, my teammates know who won those seven Tours, and everyone I competed against knows who won those seven Tours.
4. Where does this leave the sport of cycling?
There have been numerous other allegations of doping against cyclists. The Internet magazine Slate recently examined how many cyclists dope compared with other athletes. Tour de France winners Floyd Landis and Alberto Contador were involved in doping cases and had their Tour titles taken.
Landis accused Armstrong of doping, prompting Armstrong to fire back that Landis was a liar and had no credibility.
Just last month, a French Tour de France cyclist was suspended while an investigation into doping could take place. In Armstrong's case, USADA said it had numerous witnesses ready to testify at a hearing that Armstrong had indeed doped. Those witnesses include some of his teammates, such as Tyler Hamilton and George Hincapie, legends in cycling.
Hamilton told CBS's "60 Minutes" in May that he helped Armstrong dope. Hamilton's credibility has been questioned because he himself doped, and has been stripped of a 2004 Olympic time trial gold medal.
5. What does this mean for Armstrong's legacy?
Armstrong is famous for his work on behalf of cancer research under his Livestrong Foundation which he says has raised $500 million. The foundation will turn 15 in October. An online petition has popped up to rally for Armstrong. Nike, which has a contract with Armstrong, announced Friday that it will stand behind the athlete. Anheuser-Busch also said it's supporting the pitchman of its Michelob-Ultra brew. Though many others feel that fans who believe he did dope shouldn't forgive him.
Only time will tell whether Armstrong will remembered for all the good he has done or whether, as some believe, he cheated his way to victory. ESPN's Darren Rovell contemplated how tough it will be for many to decide what they think of Armstrong. Rovell retweeted a picture of one angry fan's take on Livestrong's iconic yellow bracelet.
