Former professional cyclist Lance Armstrong, who has been stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from elite-level sports after he ended his fight against doping charges, got an early vouch of support from one of his best-known sponsors: Nike.
“We are saddened that Lance Armstrong may no longer be able to participate in certain competitions and his titles appear to be impacted,” Nike spokeswoman Mary Remuzzi said in an emailed statement. ”Lance has stated his innocence and has been unwavering on this position. Nike plans to continue to support Lance and the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a foundation that Lance created to serve cancer survivors.”
Armstrong has been a Nike athlete since 1996. Nike shares recently rose 1.7% to $97.07. The stock is roughly flat this year.
Armstrong late Thursday refused to fight allegations that he used performance-ehancing drugs. He notified the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that he wouldn’t fight the charges the agency brought against him in June, a move that, according to USADA, immediately strips him of all of his athletic titles going back to Aug. 1, 1998, roughly a year before his first Tour de France victory.
In a statement, Armstrong didn’t admit that he cheated, but said he won’t fight USADA, an organization Mr. Armstrong has said for months has treated him unfairly.
“There comes a point in every man’s life when he has to say, ‘Enough is enough,’” Armstrong said in a statement Thursday. “For me, that time is now. I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999.”
