Lance Armstrong wants to host a "smarter conversation" about transgender participation in sports - which has led to many accusing the disgraced cyclist of hypocrisy when it comes to discussing "fairness" in sports.
On Sunday, Armstrong released a video of himself appearing to sit down with Caitlyn Jenner - who famously won a gold medal in the men's decathlon at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal as Bruce - to question the fairness of trans athletes in sport. That is despite Armstrong infamously being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles for cheating.
The American announced he was launching the series to assess the issues around transgender athletes in competition, which has become a heated debate in recent times. The 51-year-old said he will explore how people can be supportive of the transgender community, while investigating issues around the fairness of trans athletes competing in sports.
Armstrong suggested he was "uniquely positioned" to discuss worries about being "cancelled", a clear reference to being an outcast after he publicly admitted to doping offences in a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2013.
Armstrong revealed the full conversation will be released on Monday as part of a special series of ‘The Forward’, his podcast. In the video, he says: “I think, you know, with sensitive conversations and topics like this people tend to… they’re really afraid to be fired, shamed or cancelled. Turns out I’m not that afraid of that.
“I think it’s an important conversation. Especially, I think if it can be handled in this way and I also think the best way to have these conversations and get to a smarter conclusion or even have a smarter conversation is to just to go in fearless and I’m sort of fearless on this one.”
Along with the video, the former cyclist tweeted: “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.
"Of all the controversial and polarising subjects out there today, I'm not sure there are any as heated as the topic of Trans athletes in sport. 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's suitability to lead a discussion on fairness in sport was mocked on social media given he was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles. His successive victories in the iconic race between 1999 and 2005 were striped in 2012 following an investigation by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. He confessed to doping publicly in 2013.
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova found it particularly amusing that someone with the reputation of Armstrong was going to lead the discussion about trans athletes competing in female sports and the ‘fairness’ surrounding it. The 66-year-old has been vocal against allowing trans athletes to compete in women's sports, but found the situation concerning Armstrong laughable along with many fans.
“A natal male who cheated in sports going to speak to a natal male to talk about other natal males competing in natal female sports,” the 18-time major champion wrote on Twitter. “Got it. I am sure Lance will fix it.”
The topic of transgender athletes has stimulated fierce debate across the sporting landscape. World Athletics, UK Athletics, World Aquatics, and British Triathlon have all introduced rules blocking transgender women from elite female categories, while opening up their men's categories.
British Cycling's recently banned transgender women from racing in female competition while making the men's category 'open’, too. Transgender participation in women’s cycling has been a particular issue in 2023, with trans woman Austin Killips facing criticism after winning several events, leading to protests against the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and USA Cycling’s transgender participation rules.
