Armstrong, the Miracle Of Sports

Lance Armstrong who is one of the most professional cyclist in the world is my favourite sports personality. He is an American citizen and was born on September 18, 1971, at a Methodist Hospital in Oak Cliff, Texas. His well known achievement is winning the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times. Even do he was famous for his cycling performances, he actually started his sporting career at the age of 12 as a swimmer at the city of Plano Swim Club. He then abandoned swimming and entered junior triathlon competition which surprisingly he won easily. At the age of 16, Armstrong became a professional triathlete and won a national sprint-course triathlon in 1989 and 1990 when he was 18 and 19 years old, respectively. He started to show his talent in cycling sport when he won the United States Amateur Bicycle Championship in 1991. In 1992, he represented the United States and finished 14th in the 1992 Summer Olympics. He stunned the cycling world when at age 21 he became one of the youngest riders to ever win the UCI Road World Championship. He won the Clsica de San Sebastin in 1995, and this time won the Tour DuPont and took a handful of stage victories in Europe including the stage to

Limoges in the Tour De France.. Armstrong continue to achieve his fames in professional cycling career until his performance began to decline inspite of suffering cancer desease which resulted him 12th place in the road race in the 1996 Olympic Games. On October 2, 1996, at age 25, Armstrong was diagnosed with stage three testicular cancer. The cancer started to spread to his lungs, abdomen and brain. On his first visit to a urologist in Austin, Texas, to diagnose his cancer symptoms, he was coughing up blood and discovered a large, painful testicular tumor. Immediate surgery and chemotherapy were required to save his life. Armstrong had an orchiectomy to remove his diseased testicle. After his surgery, his doctor stated that he had only less than a 40% survival chance. His primary treatment was received at the Indiana University (IU), Indianapolis Medical Centre. His brain tumors were surgically removed and
found to contain extensive necrosis (dead tissue). His last chemotherapy treatment was received on December 13, 1996.

His cancer went into complete remission, and by January 1998 he was already engaged in serious training for racing, moving to Europe to race for the U.S. Postal team. Armstrong's cycling comeback began in 1998 when he finished fourth in the Vuelta a Espaa. In 1999 he won the Tour de France, including four stages. In 2004, Armstrong finished first, 6 minutes 19 seconds ahead of German Andreas Klden. On July 24, 2005, Armstrong officially announced his retirement from professional cycling after his 7th consecutive Tour de France win. Taking one stage at a time and winning against all odds is what Armstrong does best. Cancer was arguably the best thing that ever happened to him. The world champion cyclist's career can be divided into two distinct periods: pre- and post-cancer. In the first, he was a brash young rider who won by sheer force and drive, but who did so arrogantly and without respect for his sport. After beating the odds and surviving testicular cancer, Armstrong came back to racing a humbled and thoughtful rider who channeled his energies, learned to depend on his team, and won an astonishing four grueling Tour de France races

Bibliography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lance_Armstrong http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0675/is_2_19/ai_72120924/

Apppendices

Article 1 Against All Odds - Lance Armstrong Only in a Disney movie does an athlete win against such odds. Sitting atop his bicycle, surging so far ahead that the cyclists in pursuit fall well behind and outside the angle of television camera range, Lance Armstrong, Tour de France champion and cancer survivor, stuns the imagination and inspires hope. In the generally shorter stages of the 1999 Tour de France, Armstrong swept all three time trials, in which each cyclist races against the clock rather than other racers. He took another few stages in the 2,300-mile race and proceeded to the podium wearing the maillot jaune, the coveted yellow jersey of the tour's winner, to become the 1999 Tour de France champion. In July, he did it again, taking the 2000 Tour de France. Essentially covering the hexagonal perimeter of France and culminating in Paris along the Champs-Elysees, Armstrong, riding with his U.S. Postal Service team, rode the 21 stages over 2,275.8 miles in less time than any other cyclist. He won only one stage (a time trial), but it was a lengthy one toward the end of the tour, following the exhausting mountain stages in which he also performed splendidly. What makes his triumphs even more amazing is that three years prior to the 1999 race, he was a huge underdog in a battle against advanced testicular cancer. Although one testicle was immediately removed, he needed more surgery to remove the cancer that had spread to his brain. It was hoped that chemotherapy would shrink the dozen or so golf ball-sized nodules of testicular cancer that had spread to both of his lungs. This was where I drew a line of disbelief. As a pharmacist, I'd worked for years in the field of infectious diseases at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the world's most renowned cancer institution. I've been privileged to meet and care for many people diagnosed with cancer, including another professional athlete, Dave Dravecky, the Major League Baseball pitcher. I've witnessed a constellation of character, dignity, triumph and tragedy. Again, however, Armstrong has me stunned.

You see, to spare his lungs' incredible athletic capacity, Armstrong's chemo regimen was tailored to avoid one particular agent, bleomycin. In its place--to try to save his life-an alternative agent was added to the massive doses (we call them "blasts") of the typical chemo regimen for advanced testicular cancer. That he survived--and is likely cured--is miraculous. To win a tour, let alone consecutive tours, epitomizes hope in any athlete. To win against cancer inspires us all. According to his recent book, It's Not About the Bike (Putman), his largest benefactor was himself. In much the way he doggedly and meticulously prepared for these big races, Armstrong, fighting for his life, did his homework. He read up on the disease, sought the advice of those close to him and sought second and third opinions from oncology experts. Armstrong, practically dying from the disease and [reeling from the] shock of his recent diagnosis, hauled his bike-saddle-hardened butt out of his hometown and across the country to where he thought he'd find the best treatment. Let's not quibble over what made the difference in his survival--the epidemiology, his professional conditioning, which cancer center he chose or any other variables. Armstrong listened, did his homework and, stone-cold scared, made his choice. Obviously, it was a good one. So what other attention did tour winner Armstrong, 28, receive? Well, in Europe, it simply could not be fathomed that an American was thoroughly thrashing the entire field. The French press insinuated that perhaps performance-enhancing drugs were added to his chemotherapy regimen. Critics suggested this would help explain his dominance throughout the '99 tour. To think of the absurdity of that statement! If that technology were discovered, wouldn't it be made available to the public? Even from a purely capitalistic standpoint, wouldn't these fools think that perhaps even a tiny dose of these alleged "performance enhancers" could be added to the chemotherapy of thousands of cancer victims? Not so much to win the Tour de France, you understand, just enough so they could scrape themselves out of bed.

Like most unfortunate souls having to undergo chemotherapy, Armstrong suffered, retched and many times couldn't prop his head up, let alone get himself out of bed. He acknowledges that at his side in battle were a new girlfriend (now his wife, Kristin), his mother and close friends. Those days are growing distant. However, he profoundly points out that, in many ways, surviving cancer is tougher than surviving the treatment regimens. An athlete true to his fervor for battle, Armstrong was deeply involved in waging war against cancer and surviving chemotherapy. Now, the battle is over, he has a new son, and realistically, he can do nothing more than wait. The longer Armstrong is cancerfree, the better his prognosis. As days pass, he says he is growing less fixed upon whether the cancer will come back. COPYRIGHT 2001 Aerobics and Fitness Association of America COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group

Article 2 Lance Armstrong Lance Edward Armstrong (born Lance Edward Gunderson on September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road racing cyclist who is best known for winning the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times, after having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support. He last rode for (and helped found) UCI ProTeam Team RadioShack. In October 1996 he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, with a tumor that had metastasized to his brain and lungs. His cancertreatments included brain and testicular surgery and extensive chemotherapy, and his prognosis was originally poor. He went on to win the Tour de France each year from 1999 to 2005, and is the only person to win seven times, having broken the previous record of five wins, shared by Miguel Indurain, Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx, and Jacques Anquetil.

In 1999, he was named the ABC Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year. In 2000 he won the Prince of Asturias Award in Sports.[4] In 2002, Sports Illustrated magazine named him Sportsman of the Year. He was also named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for the years 20022005. He received ESPN's ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006, and won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality Award in 2003. Armstrong announced his retirement from racing on July 24, 2005, at the end of the 2005 Tour de France, but returned to competitive cycling in January 2009, and finished third in the 2009 Tour de France. He confirmed he had retired from competitive cycling for good on 16 February 2011.[5] Early career Armstrong was born on September 18, 1971, at Methodist Hospital in Oak Cliff, Texas in the southern sector of Dallas.[6] At the age of 12, he began his sporting career as a swimmer at the City of Plano Swim Club and finished fourth in Texas state 1,500meter freestyle. He abandoned swimming-only competition after seeing a poster for a junior triathlon which he entered and won easily. In the 19871988 Tri-Fed/Texas ("Tri-Fed" was the former name of USA Triathlon), Armstrong was the number one ranked triathlete in the 19-and-under group; second place was Chann McRae, who became a US Postal Service cycling teammate and the 2002USPRO national champion. Armstrong's points total for 1987 as an amateur was better than the five professionals ranked that year. At 16, Armstrong became a professional triathlete and became national sprint-course triathlon champion in 1989 and 1990 at 18 and 19, respectively. It became clear that his greatest talent was for bicycle racing after he won the U.S. amateur championship in 1991. Representing the U.S., he finished 14th in the 1992 Summer Olympics. This performance earned him his first professional contract with Motorola, riding alongside Sean Yates. He won his first race with Motorola, the Trophee Laigueglia in Italy, beating the favourite Moreno Argentin. Also in 1992, Armstrong competed in the Tour of Ireland race. In 1993, Armstrong won 10 one-day events and stage races. He stunned the cycling world when at age 21 he became one of the youngest riders to ever win the UCI Road World Championship, held in pouring rain in Norway that year. Prior to his World's win, he took his first stage win at the Tour de France, in the stage from Chlons-surMarne to Verdun. He was in 97th place overall when he abandoned the 1993 race in the Alps after the 12th stage.

He also collected the Thrift Drug Triple Crown of Cycling: the Thrift Drug Classic in Pittsburgh, the K-Mart West Virginia Classic, and the CoreStates USPRO national championship in Philadelphia. Thrift Drug said it would award $1 million to a rider winning all three races, a feat previously unachieved. At the USPRO championship, Armstrong sat up on his bicycle on the final lap, took out a comb, combed his hair and smiled for the cameras. In 1994, he again won the Thrift Drug Classic and came second in the Tour DuPont in the United States. His successes in Europe were second placings in the Clsica de San Sebastin and LigeBastogneLige. He won the Clsica de San Sebastin in 1995, and this time won the Tour DuPont and took a handful of stage victories in Europe including the stage to Limoges in the Tour De France. He dedicated the win to teammate Fabio Casartelli who died in a crash on the descent of the Col de Portet d'Aspet on the 15th stage, two days before. Armstrong's successes were much the same in 1996. He became the first American to win the La Flche Wallonne and again won the Tour DuPont. However, his performances began to suffer and he was only able to compete for five days in the Tour De France. At Atlanta he was only able to finish 6th in the time trial and 12th in the road race in the 1996 Olympic Games. Cancer On October 2, 1996, at age 25, Armstrong was diagnosed with stage three testicular cancer. The cancer spread to his lungs, abdomen and brain. On that first visit to a urologist in Austin, Texas, for his cancer symptoms he was coughing up blood and had a large, painful testicular tumor. Immediate surgery and chemotherapy were required to save his life. Armstrong had an orchiectomy to remove his diseased testicle. After his surgery, his doctor stated that he had less than a 40% survival chance. [7] The standard chemotherapeutic regimen for the treatment of this type of cancer is a cocktail of the drugs bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin (or Platinol) (BEP). Armstrong, however, chose an alternative, etoposide, ifosfamide, and cisplatin (VIP), to avoid the lung toxicity associated with the drug bleomycin.[8] This decision may have saved his cycling career. His primary treatment was received at the Indiana University (IU), Indianapolis, Medical Center, where Dr. Lawrence Einhorn had pioneered the use of cisplatinum to treat testicular cancer. His primary oncologist there was Dr. Craig Nichols.[8] Also at IU, his brain tumors were surgically removed and found

to contain extensive necrosis (dead tissue). His last chemotherapy treatment was received on December 13, 1996. His cancer went into complete remission, and by January 1998 he was already engaged in serious training for racing, moving to Europe to race for the U.S. Postal team. A pivotal week (April 1998) in his comeback was one he spent training in the very challenging Appalachian terrain around Boone, North Carolina, with his racing friend Bob Roll.[8] Tour de France success Before his cancer treatment, Armstrong had won two Tour de France stages. In 1993, he won the 8th stage and in 1995 he took stage 18 in honor of teammate Fabio Casartelli who crashed and died on stage 15. Armstrong dropped out of the 1996 Tour on the 7th stage after becoming ill, a few months before his diagnosis.

Armstrong finishing 3rd in Ste, taking over the Yellow Jersey at Grand Prix Midi Libre Armstrong's cycling comeback began in 1998 when he finished fourth in the Vuelta a Espaa. In 1999 he won the Tour de France, including four stages. He beat the second rider, Alex Zlle, by 7 minutes 37 seconds. However, the absence of Jan Ullrich (injury) and Marco Pantani(drug allegations) meant Armstrong had not yet proven himself against the biggest names. Stage wins included the prologue, stage eight, anindividual time trial in Metz, an Alpine stage on stage nine, and the second individual time trial on stage 19. In 2000, Ullrich and Pantani returned to challenge Armstrong. The race that began a six-year rivalry between Ullrich and Armstrong ended in victory for Armstrong by 6 minutes 2 seconds over Ullrich. Armstrong took one stage in the 2000 Tour, the second individual time trial on stage 19. In 2001, Armstrong again took top honors, beating Ullrich by 6 minutes 44 seconds. In 2002, Ullrich did not participate due to suspension, and Armstrong won by seven minutes over Joseba Beloki. The pattern returned in 2003, Armstrong taking first place and Ullrich second. Only 1 minute 1 second separated the two at the end of the final day in Paris. U.S. Postal won the team time trial on stage four, while Armstrong took stage 15, despite being knocked

off on the ascent to Luz Ardiden, the final climb, when a spectator's bag caught his right handlebar. Ullrich waited for him, which brought Ullrich fair-play honors.[9] In 2004, Armstrong finished first, 6 minutes 19 seconds ahead of German Andreas Klden. Ullrich was fourth, a further 2 minutes 31 seconds behind. Armstrong won a personal best five individual stages, plus the team time trial. He became the first since Gino Bartali in 1948 to win three consecutive mountain stages; 15, 16, and 17. The individual time trial on stage 16 up Alpe d'Huez was won in style by Armstrong as he passed Ivan Basso on the way despite setting out two minutes after the Italian. He won sprint finishes from Basso in stages 13 and 15 and made up a significant gap in the last 250 m to nip Klden at the line in stage 17. He won the final individual time trial, stage 19, to complete his personal record of stage wins. In 2005, Armstrong was beaten by David Zabriskie in the Stage 1 time trial by 2 seconds, despite passing Ullrich on the road. His Discovery Channel team won the team time trial, while Armstrong won the final individual time trial. To complete his record-breaking feat, Armstrong crossed the line on the Champs-lyses on July 24 to win his 7th consecutive Tour, finishing 4m 40s ahead of Basso, with Ullrich third. On July 24, 2005, Armstrong officially announced his retirement from professional cycling after his 7th consecutive Tour de France win.