Lance Armstrong, who was born on September 18, 1971, is a former professional road racing cyclist from the United States. A doping investigation and Armstrong’s admission that he took performance-enhancing drugs led to his seven consecutive Tour de France victories from 1999 to 2005 being thrown out of the record books.
At the age of 16, Armstrong started competing in triathlons. In 1989 and 1990, he was a national sprint-course triathlon champion in both of these years. For his first job in cycling, he worked for Motorola. It was between 1993 and 1996 that he had a lot of success. He won the World Championship in 1993, the Clásica de San Sebastián in 1995, the Tour DuPont in 1995 and 1996, and a few stages in Europe, including stage 8 of the 1993 Tour de France and stage 18 of the 1995 Tour de France. In 1996, he was diagnosed with a cancer that could be fatal if it spread to other parts of his body. After he was well again, he started the Lance Armstrong Foundation (now the Livestrong Foundation) to help other cancer patients.
During the years he was on the US Postal/Discovery team from 1998 to 2005, Armstrong won seven Tour de Frances. When Armstrong finished the 2005 Tour de France, he took a break from racing. Armstrong came back to competitive cycling in January 2009 with the Astana team and finished third in the 2009 Tour de France. Between 2010 and 2011, he raced with Team Radio Shack. In 2011, he retired for a second time. When doping was found out, these victories and titles would be taken away.
Before the 1999 Tour de France, Armstrong was accused of taking drugs. For a long time, he said he didn’t know about doping. When the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) looked into Lance Armstrong in 2012, they found that he had used performance-enhancing drugs over the course of his career. They called him the ringleader of “the most sophisticated, professionalised, and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen.” [6] Armstrong said he was not going to fight the charges because he didn’t want to hurt his family.
Lance Armstrong Early Life
Lance Edward Gunderson was born on September 18, 1971, at Methodist Hospital in Richardson, Texas, to Linda Gayle (née Mooneyham), a secretary, and Eddie Charles Gunderson (died 2012), a route manager for The Dallas Morning News. Armstrong is the son of Linda Gayle (née Mooneyham), a secretary, and Eddie Charles Gunderson (died 2012). He is descended from Canadian, Dutch, and Norwegian ancestors. Lance Rentzel, a wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys, was the inspiration for his name. Lance’s parents split when he was two years old, in 1973. Lance’s mother married Terry Keith Armstrong, a wholesale dealer, the following year, and the couple adopted Lance the following year.
Lance Armstrong Net Worth
People who know Lance Armstrong’s net worth say that he is an American cyclist, author, and public speaker who has a fortune of $50 million. In his best years, Lance’s net worth was $125 million, and it was rising quickly. During a time, Lance was one of the highest-paid athletes in the world. He earned up to $20 million or more each year from endorsements and prize money. Lance made about $15 million a year from speaking engagements, public appearance fees, and sponsorships for a few years after he retired. Before his scandals came to light, Lance was still making money from these things.
In October of 2012, Lance Armstrong was banned from professional racing because of claims that he used steroids. Most people know this by now. One of Lance’s major sponsors dropped him, and he had to give up his seven Tour de France medals. On the other hand, Lance has been an inspiration to a lot of people who have cancer. Cancer research has been done with nearly $500 million raised by his foundation, which he is no longer a part of.
Lance told Oprah Winfrey in January 2013 that he had used performance-enhancing drugs. He said that the loss of endorsement deals could cost him $75 million in lost endorsements, legal settlements, and lawyer fees. The U.S. government could have sued Lance for $100 million had the case gone to court. Lance eventually agreed to pay $5 million to settle the lawsuit.
Lance Armstrong Personal Life
In June 1997, Armstrong met Kristin Richard for the first time. It was on May 1, 1998, that they were united in marriage and had three children: a son (born in October 1999) and twin daughters (born November 2001). The pregnancies were made possible by sperm Armstrong had banked three years previously, prior to undergoing chemotherapy and surgery for his prostate cancer. In 2003, the couple decided to separate. Upon his request, his children travelled to Paris for the Tour de France podium ceremony in 2005, when his son Luke assisted his father in hoisting the trophy, while his daughters (dressed in yellow outfits) handled the Tour de France’s yellow-themed stuffed lion mascot and bouquet of yellow flowers.
During the same year that Lance Armstrong began dating singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow, Lance and Kristin Armstrong announced their divorce. The couple announced their engagement in September 2005, and their separation in February 2006, according to court documents. Armstrong began dating Anna Hansen in July 2008 after the two became acquainted through Armstrong’s charitable work. Armstrong announced in December 2008 that Hansen was expecting the couple’s first child, which was due in January 2009. Despite the fact that Armstrong had received chemotherapy for testicular cancer, it was expected that he would be unable to father children, the child was conceived naturally. They have two children: a son (born in June 2009)[161] and a daughter (born in June 2009). (born October 2010).
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Lance Armstrong Career
Armstrong started swimming at the City of Plano Swim Club when he was 12. He finished fourth in the Texas state 1,500-meter freestyle. After he saw a poster for a junior triathlon, called the Iron Kids Triathlon, he stopped swimming-only races. He won it at the age of 13. Cycling teammate and 2002 U.S. Pro National Champion Chann McRae came second. Armstrong was the top triathlete in the 19 and under group in the 1987–1988 Tri-Fed/Texas, which was the name of USA Triathlon at the time, but it was changed to USA Triathlon. When Armstrong was an amateur in 1987, he had more points than five professionals who were better than him at the time, even though they were better than him. He became a professional triathlete when he was 16, and he won the national sprint-course triathlon title at 18 and 19 years old in 1989 and 1990.
