The Phenomenon That Was a Young Lance Armstrong
He made me buy into the narrative and fall for the con
In May of 1989, I was an up and coming athlete in the still-young sport of triathlon. After a strong spring season of training, I traveled to the Dallas area to compete in the President’s Triathlon, the first-ever U.S. qualifier for the inaugural ITU World Triathlon Championships, which were held that summer in Avignon, France.
My objective was simple: go fast, make the team and head to France.
Ten years my junior, Lance Armstrong arrived at the race with the same goal.
Yes, long before the cancer battle, the Tour de France appearances, Livestrong and global stardom, the blood doping and his subsequent fall from grace, Armstrong was a teenage phenom in the triathlon world.
The President’s Triathlon was contested at what’s now the Olympic distance — a 1,500-meter swim, 40 kilometers on the bike and a 10K run.
Armstrong was in the pro wave that started the race first. Since I was competing as an age grouper in the 25–29 men’s division and had a later start time, I got to watch as Lance hung tough on the swim with the country’s top pros, including Mark Allen, who was ranked №1 in the world and would go on to win the world championship in Avignon…
