Lance Armstrong wants to discuss fairness of trans athletes in sports

Lance Armstrong wants to have a conversation about fairness in sports.

Some people think that’s a joke, considering Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France victories and banned for life from competitive cycling in 2012 after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency found he used performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career. Armstrong admitted to doping during a 2013 interview with Oprah Winfrey.

The conversation Armstrong wants to have is concerning a hot topic in 2023 — transgender athletes competing against cisgender athletes. And he’s planning on discussing it on what he says will be a special series within his podcast, “The Forward.”

Here’s how Armstrong describes the project in a promotional video he shared on social media over the weekend:

“Here we are on the PCH, headed to Caitlyn Jenner’s house to have a conversation in and around trans in sports. I think, you know, with sensitive conversations and topics like this, people tend to, what it really comes down to, they’re really afraid to be fired, shamed or canceled. It turns out I’m not that afraid of that. I think it’s an important conversation. ... And I also think the best way to have these conversations and get to a more, to get to a smarter conclusion or even have a smarter conversation is to go in fearless. And I’m sort of fearless on this one.”

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In a tweet that contained the video, Armstrong wrote: “Have we really come to a time and place where spirited debate is not only frowned upon, but feared? Where people’s greatest concern is being fired, shamed or canceled? As someone all too familiar with this phenomenon, I feel I’m uniquely positioned to have these conversations.”

In subsequent tweets in the same thread, Armstrong did introduce the topic he plans to discuss, but seemed to focus more on his supposed unique willingness to have such conversations.

“Is there not a world in which one can be supportive of the transgender community and curious about the fairness of Trans athletes in sport yet not be labeled a transphobe or a bigot as we ask questions? Do we yet know the answers? And do we even want to know the answers?” Armstrong asked in one tweet.

“I do,” he answered in the next tweet.

A number of folks on social media have weighed in on whether someone with Armstrong’s history of cheating should be leading such a discussion. Armstrong responded to one of those people — political analyst Matthew Dowd, who seemed incredulous that the disgraced cyclist was “lecturing people about fairness in sports.”

Armstrong responded that he’s not lecturing but “bringing all sides to the table and inviting rational and open dialogue.” He also again asserted that it’s “a conversation that almost nobody dares touch.”

“If they stream podcasts up in your rarified air, check it out,” Armstrong told Dowd.