This article has been updated Oct. 17 to include Nike’s latest statement and Armstrong’s announcement that he will step down as chairman of his Livestrong cancer charity.
TORONTO – Before the reports that he was doping to succeed in his sport, the name Lance Armstrong meant different things to different people:
Seven-time winner of the Tour de France = sports hero
Cancer survivor and spokesperson = role model
Livestrong charity founder = philanthropist and do-gooder
Nike sponsorship recipient = brand
But Wednesday’s headlines saw Armstrong stepping down as chairman of his Livestrong cancer charity and Nike terminating his contract. The news comes in the wake of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s report that includes 26 witnesses-11 former teammates-testifying that he doped during the races, despite his repeated affirmations that he’s clean. After these developments, how will the name ‘Lance Armstrong’ be affected?
Lance Armstrong as sports hero
Support remained strong from other elite cyclists, such as Sky Procycling’s Alex Dowsett, a 23-year-old British rider in his second year on the tour, who called Armstrong “still a legend of the sport” though he later clarified he meant that “in regard to the charity work he has done.”
2008 Olympic road race champion Samual Sanchez offered his support for Armstrong, saying “until the contrary is proved, he remains innocent.”
BMC rider Stephen Cummings, a former Olympic track cycling silver medallist , said Armstrong deserved some kind of recognition for winning the Tour de France seven times after recovering from cancer.
“Oh look, it is easy to say and point your finger on all the bad things but you could look at the good things he has done as well,” Cummings said. “So he has done a lot good things, like his cancer charity.”
…as role model
Not everyone agrees that his fundraising work is enough to keep his reputation intact. In an editorial for The Toronto Star, Damien Cox says even if only 60 per cent of the USADA findings are fact, that “still makes Armstrong a liar and a cheat.”
“Forget any and all good he may have done by raising funds for cancer. That has nothing to do with whether he cheated,” writes Cox, who believes the ‘truth’ will never come from Armstrong’s lips due to the consequences.
“He’d lose all those who refuse to see him as guilty, and nobody would come to his side in sympathy,” writes Cox. “A hero unmasked. Logic finally addressed. He did cheat to be that much better than the rest of a dirty sport. And they finally nailed him.”
At a World Cancer Congress event in Montreal at the end of August, Armstrong spoke out defiantly in relation to the USADA’s initial doping allegations, which were followed by his decision not to fight the charges or the lifetime ban.
“My name is Lance Armstrong. I am a cancer survivor. I’ve been asked to come up here and talk about my story of survivorship,” he told the audience at the Palais des Congres. “I’m a father of five. And yes, I won the Tour de France seven times.” This statement was met with loud applause and cheers.
“And for those who have no idea what I’m talking about, I love you.”
The laughter with which this last statement was met, suggested that though the attendees at the event did know what he referred to, their view of him as a role model had not yet been tainted.
The Union for International Cancer (UICC), which organizes the World Cancer Congress, told Globalnews.ca that they will not offer comment on the USADA allegations. In an Oct. 15 email, the UICC said their work with The Lance Armstrong Foundation “relates solely to our mutual efforts to control the global cancer epidemic.”
“The Lance Armstrong Foundation has been a key partner organisation of UICC since 2006,” said the email. “Lance and his team work tirelessly to better the lives of people with cancer and their families…these efforts continue with our support.”
…as do-gooder
Forbes notes that Armstrong has raised $470 million to fight cancer since he founded the charity in 1997, helped 2.5 million cancer survivors with free patient navigation services, and inspired more than 1,000 Livestrong Day events in 65 countries each year. The millions of yellow wristbands sold since 2005 have been the main symbol of the charity, after Armstrong himself.
“Was it all a lie?” asks staff writer Kurt Badenhausen. “Who cares. Cheater or not, has any athlete done more with their fame than Lance Armstrong to benefit people?”
Many people believe the money raised is enough to keep his image as a philanthropist of strong character. But others might find it hypocritical for someone promoting health to be simultaneously urging teammates to take illegal drugs. And then there’s the inherent contradiction in an inspirational figure who cheated to win the triumphs he’s celebrated for, as noted by the BBC.
“Armstrong’s comeback from cancer to dominate the world’s toughest bike race was such a wonderful story that people want to believe that it is true,” writes BBC chief sports writer Tom Fordyce. “So great a hero was he to so many that some are still reluctant not to.”
…as brand
Nike initially supported Armstrong by issuing a statement first drafted in August after the cyclist was banned for life, and stripped of his Tour de France titles.
“Lance has stated his innocence and has been unwavering on this position. Nike plans to continue to support Lance and the Lance Armstrong Foundation…”
Nike’s American website sells 98 Livestrong brand running products.
But marketing expert David Soberman says often companies make statements that change as the story changes over time, and that’s exactly what happened as a new statement appeared on Nike’s website on Wednesday.
“Due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that Lance Armstrong participated in doping and misled Nike for more than a decade, it is with great sadness that we have terminated our contract with him,” reads the statement posted on the company’s website. “Nike plans to continue support of the Livestrong initiatives created to unite, inspire and empower people affected by cancer.”
Soberman says what made Armstrong famous and allowed him to build his brand were his sporting accomplishments, and now that brand is in trouble.
“The fundamental premise upon which its built is that he is the best cyclist ever,” said Soberman. “And it turns out this may well be a mirage.”
He adds that from a marketing standpoint, there will be at least two problems with Armstrong as a spokesperson moving forward: the degree of uncertainty he now brings, and the problems with using him as a role model.
“When you are doing marketing, you try to reduce the risk in your plans, because risk is something that obviously makes shareholders of companies quite uncomfortable,” he said.
Soberman adds that using Armstrong would concern him if he were running a brand.
“That’s not the kind of person I would want, because it almost suggests that as long as you do good things with the money you produce, then it’s okay to cheat and break the rules, and I think that’s a really bad message.”
David Soberman is the Canadian National Chair in Strategic Marketing at the Rotman School of Management in Toronto.
With files from The Associated Press
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