[MavKikiNYC]

Armstrong Makes Another Pitch for NYC2012
By LYNN ZINSER

Published: April 8, 2005

As Lance Armstrong strayed into the peculiar world of Olympic bidding last month, he had barely finished the sentence about how worthy Paris was of winning the 2012 Games when he began to sense things had gone terribly wrong.

Armstrong quickly tempered those words with similar support for New York and strove for diplomacy, but that was not what came across.

The typical headline in Paris and New York read something like: Lance Picks France.

"That's the reason I called these guys immediately to say, 'Uh oh,' " Armstrong said at an appearance for NYC2012 yesterday in Central Park. "What can I do to help?"

So here was Armstrong, smiling amid a group of young cyclists who train at a newly renovated velodrome in Queens, throwing his name behind New York's bid anew.

"I want to be clear that I think all the cities are deserving bidders," he said. "But none of them deserve it like New York City."

By responding to a reporter's question last month about the race between Paris, London, New York, Madrid and Moscow for the 2012 Games, Armstrong had unwittingly wobbled into the bizarre world where athletes' endorsements have been treated like currency. It has turned into something resembling a rugby scrum, athletes' words of praise fought over as if they were the key to the hearts of 117 International Olympic Committee members who will pick the winner in July.

Armstrong has plenty of company. Earlier in the year, London and Madrid waged a weeklong war of words over statements of support for each by the distance-running star Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia.

This week, Australia paused to ponder the deeper meaning of swimmers Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett endorsing disparate bids, with Thorpe favoring New York and Hackett picking London. In Senegal, debate sprung from the decision of the Olympic track gold medalist Amadou Dia Ba to choose New York, while the mayor of Dakar favored Paris.

New York, in typical fashion, claims the largest group of athletes as its "ambassadors," boasting of more than 1,900. But London recently unveiled someone on its list whose profile trumps numbers - Nelson Mandela.

Armstrong, though, could not simply leave his home country's bid city to fend for itself with the likes of Thorpe, Pelé, Oksana Baiul and Bill Bradley. He called NYC2012 officials after the "Lance Picks France" incident and dived right back into the murky world of bid city endorsements.

In addition to crawling through the bidding-city minefield yesterday, Armstrong answered questions about the latest drug allegations lodged against him by a former personal assistant, and whether his retirement is imminent after this year's Tour de France.

To the retirement question, Armstrong offered a noncommittal "I'm still thinking about that," and said the drug charges were baseless and put forth by someone trying to extract money from him. "Unfortunately, when you're in the position I'm in, people see dollar signs," he said.

Armstrong said his defense was always the 150 or so drug tests he has taken and passed over the past six years, both during competitions and random ones out of competition. The latest, he said, came after he arrived in New York for this appearance.

Those, he expects. The controversies, he has gotten used to. The furor he touched off by saying nice things about Paris, that caught him by surprise.

"That put me in a tough spot," he said. "If you ever watched the Tour de France, you know the roads are open to the public and you literally have millions of people standing there either cheering for you or wanting your head, so you don't get out there and say Paris is a bad choice."

But New York, Armstrong said, never lost hold on his heart. He said he remembered coming here after he won his first Tour, not realizing the impact of his story as a cancer survivor winning the most famous and grueling race in his sport.

"I'll never forget coming here and being yelled at by firemen as they drive down the road and thinking, 'Oh my God, how do they know who I am?' Armstrong said. "You start to feel like you've made it."

Now, Armstrong may feel instead as if he has fallen into some parallel universe. He is still famous, but his words have taken on unusual weight in a race that has nothing to do with how hard he pedals. In this race, good athlete sound bites nudge aside discussion of bid plans, potential revenue, security and world politics.

And, as Armstrong has found out, there is no room for diplomacy.