Abstract
Lance Armstrong’s achievements in cycling will forever be overshadowed by his admittance of using unethical performance enhancing means to win. However, Armstrong’s positive social impact of raising awareness, hundreds of millions of dollars, and support for the cancer community are undeniably noteworthy. Clearly, Armstrong’s hero-savior athlete depiction in the media prior to his ‘fall’ was related to the social ‘good’ he was equally known for. This good stands in stark contrast to his demonization since. This dichotomy of Armstrong’s profiling offers a unique opportunity to consider how his rise and fall reflect biblical themes of a sport celebrity. This paper explores the theme of redemption specifically presented in the book of Isaiah, as I explore Armstrong’s media rendering as a fallen hero-athlete following his public acknowledgement of cheating. This manuscript provides a contextual comparison of Armstrong’s story to the redemption of exiled Jews as detailed in Isaiah. Throughout the paper, I present how Armstrong has received a more profound, though less obvious or common redemption through his lifetime ban from sport. Ultimately, this article provides an analysis of a contemporary hero-athletes redemption who cycled for good, while being bad.
Highlights
In 2019, another fallen athlete, Tiger Woods, won the Master’s Championship golf tournament.Weeks later, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest distinction any citizen of the United States can be awarded
By the contemporary sport culture standards, Armstrong may have gotten his ‘license to ride’ back and settled with the federal government, but in a May 2019 interview (NBCSports.com), we can see a deeper redemption in the answers Armstrong provides, demonstrating that he has truly suffered and has come to a more humble and profound understanding of himself and his predicament, reflecting Isaiah’s description of the humble servant after exile
There are three points with which I wish to conclude this comparison; they are related to the role of contemporary sport culture, redemption, and Biblical themes from the book of Isaiah found in the popular media representation of Lance Armstrong
Summary
In 2019, another fallen athlete, Tiger Woods, won the Master’s Championship golf tournament. This paper is not an in-depth analysis of Isaiah, but rather an attempt to bring insights of this Old Testament book to bear on a critical cultural analysis of a fallen hero-athlete in contemporary sport culture This is not an argument for the condemnation or exoneration of Armstrong; nor is this a historiography of a book of prophets, both of which fall beyond my training and ability. Armstrong’s story can be broken into four stages (borrowing a cycling metaphor): cancer survival, professional achievement and global celebrity, the ‘fall’, and life since In this simplification, the cyclist’s life resembles that of the Jewish people found in the book of Isaiah: remembering the Exodus and delivery to the Promised Land, thriving and success of Israel, destruction of Jerusalem, the Temple and exile to Babylon, and eventual redemption and renewal.
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