Drawing a parallel between himself and Bill Clinton, disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong in a recent interview expressed a hope that his scandal will one day be forgiven, just as the former president's was.
“Ultimately, people forgive and forget and remember the good stuff you did,” he told Texas Monthly's Michael Hall in the magazine's most recent issue.
“Is it hard to do? Yeah. But Clinton did it -- he loves to work, he loves people, he loves to hustle. He’s a hero of mine. He’s a tough guy, he’s smart, surrounded himself with good people. And ten years later, he’s president of the world. It can be done,” he continued, referring to the uproar that surrounded the Monica Lewinsky affair and Clinton's subsequent return to public favor.
But Armstrong, who called the reaction to his confession that he had used performance-enhancing drugs a "bloodbath," admitted also that lasting repercussions of his fall from grace will likely be felt for a long time.
“The stain’s not going away -- my girls will grow into it. My two little ones will grow into it. This stain will live forever. I’ll never get rid of it,” Armstrong, who was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles last year, told the Texas Monthly.
Visit Texas Monthly here to read the full interview with Armstrong.
During a highly anticipated interview with Oprah Winfrey in January, Armstrong confessed to doping and admitted that his story had long been "one big lie."
Reuters reported on Thursday that doping lobby group Change Cycling Now is now calling on Armstrong to issue a more comprehensive confession.
"What upset me most," the group's founder, Jaimie Fuller, said of Armstrong's doping, "[was] the way he abused people, the way that he just climbed all over people, the win at all costs. I had a conversation with him not long ago and I said to him it's going to get worse for him before its gets better. I think he's bit delusional." Fuller went on to add that Armstrong should "come clean" and tell the world "everything."
Though Armstrong has been keeping a relatively low profile since his Oprah interview, TMZ reported this week that the athlete was spotted in Los Angeles and speculated that the former pro cyclist was in town to discuss two rumored movie deals. J.J. Abrams is believed to be spearheading a biopic for Paramount Pictures, while Jay Roach is said to be planning an Armstrong film for Warner Bros.