Lance Armstrong said Wednesday he is stepping down as chairman of his Livestrong cancer-fighting charity so the group can focus on its mission instead of its founder’s problems.
The move came on the same day that Nike, the biggest supporter of cyclist Lance Armstrong terminated its endorsement deal with the embattled cyclist, a source told ESPN’s Darren Rovell Wednesday.
Armstrong said his decision to leave Livestrong was made so the group can focus on its mission instead of its founder’s problems and came a week after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency released a massive report detailing allegations of widespread doping by Armstrong and his teams when he won the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 to 2005.
A source told ESPN that Nike, the world’s largest shoe and apparel company, will also change the name of the Lance Armstrong Fitness Center building named after Armstrong at Nike headquarters in Beaverton, Ore.
“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,” Nike said, in a statement. “Nike does not condone the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs in any manner. Nike plans to continue support of the Livestrong initiatives created to unite, inspire and empower people affected by cancer.”
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