Lance Armstrong has admitted to talk show host Oprah Winfrey that he used performance-enhancing drugs in a lengthy interview to be aired later this week, according to a person familiar with the situation and USA Today.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the interview is to be broadcast on Thursday on Winfrey's OWN network.
A confession marks a stunning reversal after Armstrong spent years strenuously denying doping allegations, sticking to his story even after being publicly shamed and stripped of his seven Tour de France titles last year.
Any admission of guilt could also have legal or financial ramifications, particularly among big-name corporate sponsors such as Nike, who loyally stood by him even as the allegations grew.
It was Armstrong's first interview since he was stripped in October of his Tour titles, after the US Anti-Doping Agency said he helped orchestrate the most sophisticated doping program in sports history.
Winfrey was set to appear on CBS television's "This Morning" on Tuesday to promote the interview.
She did not reveal details of the interview ahead of its Thursday night air date on her OWN cable network and its website, but took to Twitter to say the exchange had lasted more than two and a half hours. "He came READY!" she tweeted.
The announcement that Armstrong had agreed to an interview sparked widespread speculation that he might finally confess to being a drug cheat after years of adamant denials.
Reporters, photographers and TV crews took up positions earlier across the street from Armstrong's opulent Austin home, where the interview took place and which is surrounded by an eight-foot (2.4-meter) high stone wall.
Click here to read more.
SOURCE: The Telegraph
Comments