Rational news and knowledge for the
everyday atheist
These biographies highlight
famous atheists, celebrity atheists and famous skeptics or freethinkers
who have made or are making their mark on history.
Welcome to the biographical page of Lance
Armstrong. If you would like to nominate an article for appearance
here, or have a submission, please send an email to rational@rationalatheist.com.
From
Wikipedia Lance Armstrong (born Lance Edward Gunderson on September 18, 1971
in Plano, Texas) is a retired American professional road racing cyclist.
He attended Clark High School while he lived in Plano. He won the Tour
de France, cycling's most prestigious race, a record seven consecutive
times from 1999 to 2005. In doing so, he beat the previous record of five
consecutive wins, held by Miguel Indurain and five non consecutive wins
shared by Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx and Jacques Anquetil. This feat
was accomplished several years after brain and testicular surgery, and
extensive chemotherapy in 1996, to treat testicular cancer that had metastasized
to his brain and lungs. Armstrong has been dogged throughout his career
by doping allegations, which he has consistently denied.
In 1999, he was named as ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year.
In 2002, Sports Illustrated magazine named him Sportsman of the Year.
He was also named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for 2002,
2003, 2004 and 2005, received ESPN's ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete
in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006, and won the BBC Sports Personality of the
Year Overseas Personality Award in 2003. Armstrong retired from racing
on July 24, 2005, at the end of the 2005 Tour de France.
His athletic success and his dramatic recovery from cancer inspired Armstrong
to commemorate his accomplishments in conjunction with Nike through the
Lance Armstrong Foundation, a charity founded in 1997. The Foundation's
yellow rubber "Livestrong" wristbands, first launched in 2004,
have been a major success, netting the Foundation tens of millions of
dollars in the fight against cancer, while helping Armstrong become a
major player in the nonprofit sector.(more)
“At the end of the day, if there was
indeed some Body or presence standing there to judge me, I hoped I would
be judged on whether I had lived a true life, not on whether I believed
in a certain book, or whether I'd been baptized.”
Lance
Armstrong, American Atheist Athlete
No prayers, no lucky charms, no divine intervention at all. Lance Armstrong
believes in himself, not in the supernatural. He believes in training,
focus, and determination. He believes in surgery, chemotherapy, and medicine.
He does not believe in gods.
Lance
Armstrong and God
One of the most recognizable athletes in the world today is Lance Armstrong.
Winner of an unprecedented (and unlikely to be matched) seven Tour de
France races and survivor of cancer, Lance Armstrong is a powerful example
of what a human being can do when they dedicate themselves to a cause.
Moreover, he is an example that it can all be done without religion and
without gods.
The
Legend of Lance: an Armstrong retrospective
He's gone but not forgotten. After winning an unprecedented seventh straight
Tour de France title, Lance Armstrong can lay claim to the title of greatest
Tour de France rider in the history of cycling. It's a title not likely
to be challenged for many years, and Cyclingnews' European Editor, Tim
Maloney, takes a look at what makes Armstrong great.
Breaking
Away
As he rolls for number seven, wrap your mind around the life and legacy
and farewell Tour de France of Lance Armstrong—hero, dad, six-time
King of the World, rock-star arm candy, and (sometime after '06) the next!
governor! of Texas! by Hal Espen
10
Questions For Lance Armstrong
“I don't have anything against organized religion per se. We all
need something in our lives. I personally just have not accepted that
belief. But I'm one of the few. ”