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Lance armstrong triathlon

By on January 3, 2013

Lance Armstrong triathlon the beginning of the end.

lance armstrong triathlon

Photo by:Daniel Norton

In February, Lance Armstrong finished second to Bevan Docherty at Ironman 70.3 Panama, beating some of the best triathlete’s in the sport. We take a look how Armstrong impacted the triathlon world, for better or worse!

One thing you cant deny Armstrong is his ability to generate unparalleled attention. During the Panama 70.3 event, live coverage was 27 times higher than previously for a regular 70.3 Ironman event. With text updates,Photos and page views all up and increased media coverage requests, you cant deny this was a positive impact for both the sport and sponsors.

 

Some of the 2012 Triathlon results from Armstrong were impressive to say the least.

  1. Ironman 70.3 Panama (3:50:55, 2nd place)
  2. Ironman 70.3 Texas (3:54:32, 7th place)
  3. Ironman 70.3 St. Croix (4:07:08, 3rd place)
  4. Ironman 70.3 Florida (3:45:38 1st place)
  5. Ironman 70.3 Hawaii (3:50:55, 1st Place)


After Ironman 70.3 Panama, Ironman 70.3 Texas and Ironman 70.3 St. Croix, Armstrong’s results are remarkably consistent, He produces a solid swim, followed by usually leading off the bike (and he set a course record at St. Croix), then he has more than often held the lead for the rest of the run.

Top triathlete’s took notice with Craig Alexander quoting . “I wasn’t surprised he came out the way he did,” says three-time Ironman world champion Craig Alexander. “I thought Lance would be the guy to beat this year in Kona. In fact, it’s one of the reasons I decided to come back.”

Other triathletes werent too happy with Armstrong participation  as Richie Cunningham whom was third to Armstrong at 70.3 panama in February, said that he had some concerns surrounding Armstrong’s competition results.

“I think it’s great he’s raised money for cancer,” he said. “But if he’s cheating, he’s cheating. It’s disgraceful. If he wants to raise money on his own, fine. But he needs to pack up and go.”

United States has only ever won one Olympic triathlon medal, a bronze medal since triathlons introduction to the olympics  in Sydney, Australia. The sport of Triathlon has always struggled to gain a broader media attention but Armstrong’s participation has raised the sport’s popularity no doubt.

While the Usada case against Armstrong did not focus on whether he doped from 2009 to 2012, the period in which he competed in triathlon and Ironman, the documents recently released claimed that evidence from that period provided “strong corroboration for the already overwhelming evidence of Armstrong’s doping from the period from 1998 through 2005.

With the latest USADA ruling we won’t see Armstrong competing in any Triathlon sanctioned events in the near future.


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