蘭斯·阿姆斯特朗：此生皆謊？

關于運動員服用興奮劑的事件，我們時有聽聞。近的就有今年倫敦奧運會上炒得沸沸揚揚的西方媒體對中國游泳隊的指控。然而，就在這一風波余音未了之際，美國反興奮劑機構卻宣布迎來一次重大的“勝利”，而且這一次“絆倒”的更是自行車賽場上神一般的人物——蘭斯·阿姆斯特朗！這位抗癌斗士、自行車環(huán)法賽七冠王最終選擇了放棄為自己抗爭，帶著無數人的失望與悲痛走下“神壇”。這不禁讓我們這些對運動奇跡一度懷有希冀的人陷入新一輪的困惑：在追求更高、更快、更強的體育事業(yè)中，到底還有沒有“神”的存在？

Lance Armstrong—could a Hollywood screenwriter come up with a better name for an American hero?—had returned that year to the world’s most gruelling test of 2)endurance， the 3)Tour de France. He had spent the previous two years being treated for 4)testicular cancer that had spread throughout his body， which， at the time， was more often than not， a death sentence. The 5)chemotherapy Armstrong received was so powerful， and so 6)toxic， that he suffered burns on his arms from the inside. How could somebody even ride a bicycle after that， let alone win a race that lasted a month， scaled the highest peaks in Europe， and covered more than two thousand miles?

蘭斯·阿姆斯特朗——即使是好萊塢編劇家，也無法為“美國英雄”這角色編出一個更厲害的人物了吧？——那一年，他回歸環(huán)法自行車賽，那是世界上對耐力要求最為嚴苛的試煉。在此之前，他花了兩年時間治療已蔓延全身的睪丸癌，而那時，睪丸癌幾乎就是死刑。阿姆斯特朗接受高強度化療，極為毒性，他的手臂經受著由內到外被灼傷的苦痛。經歷過如此折磨之后，誰還能再騎自行車？更別提贏得長達一個月的比賽，攀登歐洲最高峰，騎過兩千多英里路了。

But he not only rode—he won. Again and again and again. Each victory seemingly more 7)thrilling than the last. Seven Tours in all; a feat 8)unmatched in sports.

Cycling had long been 9)tainted by the abuse of performance-enhancing drugs， and Armstrong’s achievement was so 10)astounding that many people simply assumed he relied on them just as others had. The French were the loudest and most persistent critics. But others wondered， too.

Now he is for the ages， in his own Lance way. Lance Armstrong has joined the legion of the lost， the great athletes who were 11)barred or 12)exiled for sins admitted or charged or suspected. Armstrong， who on August 23th， 2012 ended his fight against charges by the United States Anti-Doping Agency that he used performanceenhancing drugs， now belongs in that pantheon of stars who had to go away but never really did. They 13)haunt our 14)psychic memories of who they were， how they 15)excelled， what they could have been. They clog up the sporting record books with their asterisks and their defaults and their suspensions and their white-out accomplishments.

Eventually， the new scrutiny and other suits forced cycling to tighten up. Even without a positive test， the antidoping agency appeared set to move forward with 16)arbitration. It claimed to have more than 10 eyewitnesses who would testify that Armstrong used banned blood transfusions， the blood booster EPO， 17)testosterone and other drugs to win the Tour. The antidoping agency also said it had blood test results of Armstrong’s from 2009 and 2010 that were consistent with doping. It was too dirty to go on like that. Two disgraced champions sang on Armstrong: Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton. The United States Anti-Doping Agency became， as the saying goes， interested in Armstrong. And finally， that most loyal and longstanding outrider of them all， George Hincapie， was forced to give testimony. 18)Omertàgoes only so far.

This is not the first time a top cyclist has suffered such a career 19)implosion—it has been common in cycling in recent years， as doping has 20)crippled the sport. Several recent Tour de France champions have been found guilty of doping， including the American rider Floyd Landis and Alberto Contador of Spain. But none of them had the stature of Armstrong.

By declining to stage any more battles to maintain his innocence， Armstrong is issuing a nonofficial admission of that 21)ultimate legal admission: not mea culpa but no más. Ultimately， his lawyers must have told him it was over. His decision means he will almost certainly be stripped of his seven Tour titles， the bronze medal he won at the 2000 Olympics and all other titles， awards and money he won from August 1998 on. It also means he will be barred for life from competing， coaching or having any official role with any Olympic sport or other sport that follows the World Anti-Doping Code.

He could have chosen to go to arbitration， which would h a v e m e a n t that witnesses could testify against him in a hearing possibly o p e n t o t h e public. Instead， he chose to bow out of the process.

In doing so， he emphasized that his Tour victories would always be his.

“I know who won those seven Tours， my teammates know who won those seven Tours， and everyone I competed against knows who won those seven Tours，” Armstrong said， adding: “The toughest event in the world， where the strongest man wins. Nobody can ever change that. If Lance is clean， it is the greatest comeback in the history of sport. If he isn’t， it would be the greatest 22)fraud.”

但是，他不只是騎完了——他還贏得了比賽，還贏了一次又一次。每一次的勝利都看似比上一次更驚心動魄。一共七次環(huán)法冠軍，這是運動史上無與倫比的壯舉。

自行車賽一直有濫用興奮劑的丑聞，阿姆斯特朗的成績如此驚人，很多人就很容易猜想他只是像其他人一樣依賴興奮劑。……