Astana teammates Andreas Kloden of Germany, American Levi Leipheimer, American seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, and Alberto Contador of Spain. AP Photo/Christophe Ena
Sporting celebrity hero worship is a funny thing. So many of us do it, yet it is something we often chastise. And few athletes typify this dichotomy like Lance Armstrong.
Armstrong, currently competing in Australia at the Tour Down Under in Adelaide, is one of the truly elite sporting stars at present; one of those very few who transcend their own sport but also singlehandedly and significantly grow it.
Few fit into this category, defined by the impact the likes of Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan had on not just their sports, but also on culture.
Of the elite athletes currently competing, only Lance Armstrong could definitively be put into this category. (For interest’s sake, the likes of Roger Federer, Valentino Rossi, Usain Bolt could be considered, while its debatable whether Tiger Woods’ indiscretions should rule him out.)
But what’s fascinating about Armstrong, and how he towers over the world of cycling, is that as the public love affair with him seems to grow, as evidenced by the popularity of his comeback, there is a growing undercurrent of scepticism about his legitimacy (something that has existed ever since his return from cancer) and the reverence in which he’s held.
Mike Tomalaris, the face of SBS’s cycling coverage, has written an interesting blog on the network’s Cycling Central website regarding how he views Armstrong.
While Tomalaris is glowing in his views, many of the comments left on his blog reflect the negative views on the Texan.
While Armstrong’s ‘Twitter-ride’ in Adelaide was popular with the close to 5,000 who turned up on the day and rode alongside their idol, for many it simply portrayed Armstrong as an egomaniac
One local I overheard said, “Who does he think he is, Moses?”
Few current athletes seem to be as divisive. But even fewer have that justified swagger and persona like Armstrong.
As Tomalaris writes: “I’ve always felt Lance as being a cut above-your-average sportsman who presents himself better than most and capable of holding an audience in the palm of his hand.”
Armstrong can spellbind like no athlete I’ve witnessed in a press conference or while engaging with fans, effortlessly shifting his role from cyclist, cancer ambassador, entertainer and more. Seeing this firsthand has put me with Tomalaris in the admirers camp, for which I make no apologies.
While journalists aren’t meant to have favourites, even we cannot help but be impressed by the Armstrong story.
Few athletes have given back to societies and communities as much as Armstrong, and while many seemed disapproving of Tomalaris labeling him as an ‘ambassador of the human race’, that much is true, and his hero status can only truly be appreciated by those directly impacted by cancer.
World sport needs more Lance Armstrongs.
So few of the elite, global stars have tried to do as much for charity or trying to improve societies wellbeing, let alone engaging with fans. So many athletes are sequestered from the public to such an extent that Armstrong’s efforts to engage come across as unusual (perhaps one of the reasons many view it as a publicity stunt of an egomaniac, having become so accustomed to viewing athletes only through sanitized PR exercises).
With their elevated status, it is a shame that more of the elites haven’t been as vocal and pioneering in their altruism, and it is perhaps this inaction that further differentiates an Armstrong from the rest.
No matter what you think of Armstrong, you cannot help but be impressed by his achievements on and off the bike.
While many will forever connect him with the drug controversies that scar his sport, as Tomalaris concludes: “Well, if Lance is guilty for cheating the spirit of sport it’s never been proven, and until that day arrives I will always admire a guy who has changed the face of cycling to what it is today.”
Ditto.
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