Lance Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times (1999-2005) after having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer support. He was born on this day in 1971.
On August 23, 2012, Armstrong announced he will stop fighting allegations that he used banned substances during his stellar career. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said it will ban Armstrong for life and recommend he be stripped of his record seven Tour de France titles. Jim Caple said it best: “As far as I can tell no one actually won the Tour de France from 1996 to 2007” due to the rampant use of performance enhancers. “Going after athletes for something they might have done seven to 13 years ago […] does far more harm than good. USADA should have let this one go. The agency exists to police sports, not destroy them.” You don’t have to be an Armstrong apologist to believe in the principle of “innocent until proven guilty.” Throwing your hands up after years of defending yourself doesn’t prove guilt, does it? Though it does suggest evidence against Armstrong.
Kim Clijsters is a Belgian tennis player. She won four Grand Slam singles titles and two Grand Slam doubles titles. Clijsters retired in 2007 to have a child, but returned to tennis in 2009. In only her third tournament back, she won her second U.S. Open title, becoming the first unseeded player and wildcard to win the tournament, and the first mother to win a major since Evonne Goolagong in 1980. At age 29, Clijsters just retired to have a second child. The U.S. Open in 2012 was her final tournament. I guess I need to choose a new favorite WTA player.
Note: This is 8-bit tennis character #8 of 8 in celebration of the U.S. Open.
Justine Henin is a Belgian former tennis player. She won seven Grand Slam singles titles from 2001-2007. Henin also won the singles gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. She is a very gifted athlete with the best one-handed backhand in the women’s game (and probably the men’s game too, unless you think the Federer backhand is better).
Note: This is 8-bit tennis character #7 of 8 in celebration of the U.S. Open.
Serena Williams is an American tennis player. She has won 14 Grand Slam singles titles, 13 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles (with her older sister Venus) and two Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. She has also won four Olympic gold medals, one in singles (2012) and three in women’s doubles (2000, 2008 and 2012). Serena’s complete domination (6-0, 6-1) of Maria Sharapova in the gold medal match at the 2012 Olympic Games last month was remarkable. She is one of the greatest tennis players of all time, but can also act appallingly classless and disrespectful.
Note: This is 8-bit tennis character #6 of 8 in celebration of the U.S. Open.
Venus Williams is an American tennis player. In 2002, she became the first African-American woman to achieve a world No. 1 ranking in the Open Era. Venus has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, 13 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles (with her younger sister Serena) and two Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. She has also won four Olympic gold medals, one in singles (2000) and three in women’s doubles (2000, 2008 and 2012).
Note: Venus wore this controversial lacy corset dress at the French Open in 2010. This is 8-bit tennis character #5 of 8 in celebration of the U.S. Open.
Martina Hingis is a Swiss former tennis player. She won five Grand Slam singles titles, nine Grand Slam women’s doubles titles (including all four in 1998) and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title. Hingis spent a total of 209 weeks as world No. 1. Ankle ligament injuries forced her to withdraw from tennis in 2002 at the age of 22. Hingis returned to the WTA Tour in 2006, but announced her retirement after testing positive for cocaine during Wimbledon in 2007.
Note: This is 8-bit tennis character #4 of 8 in celebration of the U.S. Open.
Monica Seles is a former tennis player born and raised in the Socialist Republic of Serbia to Hungarian parents. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1994. Known for her aggressive game and for introducing the grunt to women’s tennis, Seles won nine Grand Slam singles titles. In 1990, at the age of 16, she became the youngest-ever French Open champion. Seles won eight Grand Slam singles titles before her 20th birthday and seemed utterly unstoppable. However, in April 1993, she was stabbed on a court in Hamburg by a maniac who adored Steffi Graf. Seles did not return to tennis until 1995. Her game was never the same.
Note: This is 8-bit tennis character #3 of 8 in celebration of the U.S. Open.
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario is a Spanish former tennis player. She won four Grand Slam singles titles, six Grand Slam women’s doubles titles and four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. Sánchez Vicario participated in a record five Olympics and won four Olympic medals (two silver and two bronze). I mainly remember her tenacity and determination, and how I would root against her when she played Steffi Graf.
Note: This is 8-bit tennis character #2 of 8 in celebration of the U.S. Open.
Steffi Graf is a German former tennis player. She won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, the most of any tennis player in the Open Era. In 1988, she became the only player to achieve a Golden Slam by winning all four Grand Slam singles titles and the Olympic gold medal in the same calendar year. Graf was ranked world No. 1 for a record 377 total weeks. Many consider her the greatest women’s tennis player of all time. Graf retired in 1999 and married Andre Agassi in 2001.
Note: This is 8-bit tennis character #1 of 8 in celebration of the U.S. Open.
Nadia Comăneci is a Romanian gymnast who won three Olympic gold medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. She was also the first female gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic gymnastic event. She won two more gold medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow and collected nine Olympic medals in total. She is one of the best-known gymnasts in the world.
Oscar Pistorius is a South African sprinter and Paralympics gold medalist. Known as the “Blade Runner” and “the fastest man on no legs,” Pistorius, who has a double below-knee amputation, is the world record holder for T44 in the 100, 200 and 400 meters. He runs with the aid of Cheetah Flex-Foot carbon fiber artificial limbs. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, the amazing Pistorius became the first double-leg amputee to participate in the Olympics.
One of my favorite Olympic moments was when Grenada teenager Kirani James asked Pistorius to exchange name bibs with him after their 400-meter semifinal (in which Pistorius was eliminated). It was a touching gesture and a gracious show of respect. James went on to win the gold medal, which was the first medal for Grenada in Olympic history.
Michael Johnson is a retired American sprinter. He won four Olympic gold medals (in 1992, 1996 and 2000). Johnson currently holds the world record in the 400 meters (43.18 seconds). He formerly held the world record in the 200 meters. Johnson famously wore gold track shoes during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He is one of the greatest long sprinters in history.
Usain Bolt is a Jamaican sprinter, a six-time Olympic gold medalist and an electric personality. He is the world record record holder in the 100 meters (9.58 seconds) and the 200 meters (19.19 seconds). Bolt is the fastest man of all time, exceeding 24 miles per hour during sprints. He won the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4×100 meter relay at both the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2012 Summer Olympics.
It would be fun to see Bolt set world records in the 400 meters and the long jump, if he’s willing to train for those events before he passes his prime. He surely has the freakish natural talent required.
Florence Griffith-Joyner, also known as Flo-Jo, was an American track and field athlete. She is the fastest woman of all time, still holding the world record in the 100 meters (10.49 seconds) and 200 meters (21.34 seconds)—both set in 1988 and never seriously challenged. She was also known for her trademark one-legged track suits and her long, colorful fingernails that matched her outfits. She died of epilepsy in 1998 at the age of 38.
Note: Flo-Jo was the wife of Olympic champion triple jumper Al Joyner and the sister-in-law of heptathlete and long jumper Jackie Joyner-Kersee.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee is a retired American athlete, ranked among the all-time greatest athletes in the women’s heptathlon and the women’s long jump. She won three gold, one silver and two bronze Olympic medals at four different Olympic Games (1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996). Sports Illustrated for Women magazine voted Joyner-Kersee the Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th Century.
Note: Jackie was the sister-in-law of the late Florence Griffith-Joyner, the “fastest woman of all time.” Flo-Jo married Jackie’s brother Al Joyner, an Olympic champion triple jumper.
Mark Spitz is a retired American swimmer. He won seven gold medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics—an achievement only surpassed by Michael Phelps, who won eight golds at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Spitz set new world records in all seven events in which he competed, a record that still stands. He also won four medals (two golds) at the 1968 Summer Olympics.
Michael Phelps is an American swimmer and the most decorated Olympian of all time with 22 medals. He also holds the all-time record for gold medals with 18. In winning eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Phelps took the record for the most first-place finishes at any single Olympics. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, he won four golds and two silver medals.
Jesse Owens was a barrier-breaking American track and field athlete. At a Big Ten track meet in 1935, Owens set three world records and tied a fourth in a span of 45 minutes. He was the most successful athlete at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Nazi Germany, where he achieved international fame by winning gold in the 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 relay and long jump.
Carl Lewis is an American former track and field athlete, who won 10 Olympic medals, including nine gold. His career spanned from 1979 to 1996, when he last won an Olympic title and subsequently retired. Lewis was a dominant sprinter and long jumper who topped the world rankings in the 100 meters, 200 meters and long jump events frequently.
LeBron James is an NBA player with the Miami Heat who plays the small forward position. He played for the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2003-2010. King James is an NBA champion, NBA Finals MVP, three-time NBA MVP and NBA Rookie of the Year. He is an eight-time NBA All-Star and has earned eight All-NBA honors and four All-Defensive honors.
Lance Armstrong – No. 508
Lance Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times (1999-2005) after having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer support. He was born on this day in 1971.
On August 23, 2012, Armstrong announced he will stop fighting allegations that he used banned substances during his stellar career. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said it will ban Armstrong for life and recommend he be stripped of his record seven Tour de France titles. Jim Caple said it best: “As far as I can tell no one actually won the Tour de France from 1996 to 2007” due to the rampant use of performance enhancers. “Going after athletes for something they might have done seven to 13 years ago […] does far more harm than good. USADA should have let this one go. The agency exists to police sports, not destroy them.” You don’t have to be an Armstrong apologist to believe in the principle of “innocent until proven guilty.” Throwing your hands up after years of defending yourself doesn’t prove guilt, does it? Though it does suggest evidence against Armstrong.