Lance Armstrong: I'm an athlete and that's all

espn.com ^ | March 25, 2003 | ESPN.com

[RetiredArmy]

Armstrong: I'm an athlete and that's all

From: The Associated Press; Posted At ESPN.com, March 25, 2003

MADRID, Spain -- Lance Armstrong will worry about his team's safety this summer during the Tour de France if the United States is still at war with Iraq.

The four-time champion said he would be concerned about his U.S Postal team as it rides each day through the mountains and countryside.

"Two-hundred kilometers (124 miles) of road without barriers cannot be kept under control,'' Armstrong said Monday on Catalan regional television.

"I don't represent one side or the other, but I do represent a sponsor'' of the war, the Texan added.

"I'm an athlete and that's all,'' he said. (Is he not an American?)

Armstrong has overcome cancer to win his Tour de France titles. If he wins a fifth straight race, he will tie the record of Spain's Miguel Indurain, who won from 1991-95.

Armstrong is in Spain for the Catalan Week race.

[BeadCounter]

http://www.lancearmstrong.com/

"Regarding the war and some recent quotes from Spain: Don't you really - as an American, and a high profile one at that - represent the USA? were you trying differentiate sports from the war? This quote seemed out of character for someone who has said "I support the President and our troops 100%."
Exactly. In my opinion it's not really the place of an athlete to take a position here. And I do think there should be a strong deliniation from sports, war, diplomacy, and politics. I am getting asked this question repeatedly over here because a) I'm an American like the President, b) I'm a Texan like the President, and c) I am a friend of the President's. The war seems to be very unpopular here (lots and lots of protests) and it's normal that the press tries to get a quote regarding this.

What I will say, and have said many times, is that NOBODY wants a war. Not me. Not President Bush. Not Tony Blair. No one... but sometimes it may be unavoidable. I absolutely support the President and absolutely support our troops. Enough on this... "

[Eva]

Thanks, I agree with his sentiments. We object to the Hollywood celebs expressing their anti-American thoughts and wish that they would keep their thoughts to themselves, so I guess its right for athletes to decline to make public statements on politics and I have to agree that the man is an athlete, not a politician, so why should the press care what he thinks politically. I'm glad that he clarified his position on his web-page, though.

[BeadCounter]

I don't see what else, we might expect of an athlete and I certainly don't expect anything from Hollywood Celebs, good time, to thank, Dennis Miller, Tom Selleck and others, who stand up for the American way, but back to my point, I don't know what more I would expect from an Athlete, than some sort of neutral statement. What if the athlete who said, "I'm an athlete and that's all" was Shaq or Yao Ming?
Armstrong, by the way, seems to be in Spain, one of the first countries in the coalition; Spain, having that experience with El Cid and the Moors some years ago. He may be training there, but may be there only for an event. One might remember, his remarks, too, are a bit tinged, from being on foreign soil. I know, americans do play sports, basketball, etc. in Europe. I hope they are well accepted.