Lance Armstrong returns to cycling, still not a superior athlete.

Dave on 02 12, 2009

The man I am about to talk about should not even be mentioned in the same breath with the greatest of athletes. I am not trying to take anything away from what he has achieved in his sport, however to call this man one of the greatest athletes of our time is an insult to anyone who really appreciates athletic talent. I am talking about Lance Armstrong, and the notion that he is one of the greatest athletes of our generation. Does everyone forget that he does something that most people are capable of doing when they are under the age of five? The last I checked riding a bicycle does not take an extraordinary amount of athletic talent; all it requires is someone who is not paralyzed from the neck down. I am not saying winning the Tour De France seven times is not an impressive feat, however I think we over exaggerate how impressive of an accomplishment it actually is. What I am trying to say is that we should not be giving him awards that celebrate athleticism, awards like the ESPY for best male athlete, an award which he has won twice. Now if there was an award bestowed to the most dominant athlete of his or her sport I would be more than happy to give him that honor. But again we are talking about athlete, someone with exceptional skill in more than one area than stamina. Lance Armstrong is a great story of will and persistence, not a story of an incredible athlete.

If you are still not convinced that he is an overrated athlete then we should take a look at this topic from a different perspective. Take LeBron James and Lance Armstrong, and now remove basketball and cycling from the sake of this argument. Now pick five random sports where head to head competition is the goal and try and tell me that Lance Armstrong would be lucky to win more than one of the five sports you have selected. Lebron is quicker, stronger, faster, and more coordinated than Armstrong, the very traits that make up the composition of an athlete. Armstrong is nothing more than an average athlete with incredible stamina.

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