Truth rating: 10
9:23 pm, January 17th, 2013
(OWN)
Lance Armstrong confessed to doping in his highly-anticipated “Oprah’s Next Chapter” interview, part one of which aired on Thursday.
The disgraced cyclist began by telling Oprah Winfrey that “yes,” he used performance-enhancing drugs, including EPO, testosterone and HGH.
Armstrong also admitted to having blood transfusions and “blood doping,” and to using drugs each time he won the Tour de France.
Asked whether he could become a 7-time champion without the banned substances, he answered, “No, not in my opinion.”
“The truth wasn’t what was out there,” said Armstrong. ”The truth isn’t what I said.”
He added, “All the fault and all the blame here falls on me,” and went on to explain that he “lost” himself in both the illegal behavior and the lying.
Talking about doping being common practice in the sport, despite its illegality, Armstrong said, “I didn’t invent the culture, but I didn’t try to stop it. And that’s what I have to be sorry for.”
The athlete demurred when Oprah repeatedly try to find out the logistics of his process, but Armstrong called it “very simple,” and even said his use of testosterone could be “justified” by his testicular cancer.
But the illness, said Armstrong, only enhanced his “win-at-all-costs” mentality, and even turned him into a “bully.”
Armstrong said he knows his confession was a long time coming.
“This is too late. It’s too late for probably most people,” he told Oprah. ”And that’s my fault. I view this situation as one big lie that I repeated a lot of times.”
Gossip Cop will have updates, and add video later.
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