Most people found Lance Armstrong’s interview with Oprah to be lacking empathy and remorse for lying about doping and all the people he hurt and falsely accused in the process. He didn’t shed tears nor did he hand out sincere apologies. One topic that did seem to invoke some emotion was when he mentioned his son who stood up for him when the world was accusing him of doping. Read more after the jump.
“I saw my son defending me and saying, ‘That’s not true. What you’re saying about my dad is not true,'” Armstrong recalled.
“That’s when I knew I had to tell him.”
Armstrong was near tears at that point, referring to 13-year-old Luke, the oldest of his five children. He blinked, looked away from Winfrey, and with his lip trembling, struggled to compose himself.
“What did you say?” Winfrey asked.
“I said, ‘Listen, there’s been a lot of questions about your dad. My career. Whether I doped or did not dope. I’ve always denied that and I’ve always been ruthless and defiant about that. You guys have seen that. That’s probably why you trusted me on it.’ Which makes it even sicker,” Armstrong said.
“And uh, I told Luke, I said,” and here Armstrong paused for a long time to collect himself, “I said, ‘Don’t defend me anymore. Don’t.’
“He said OK. He just said, ‘Look, I love you. You’re my dad. This won’t change that.”
That must’ve been extremely difficult for himself and his family. The strongest character in that situation is no doubt his son Luke and I hope this whole thing doesn’t damage him too much. We all know how cruel kids can be and he’s probably been through a lot.
More details from the interview on SI
