The ARMSTRONG Legend

“You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain”

A week into it and still the world can’t get the name ‘ARMSTRONG ‘off its cache; the week ending 25^th August 2012 forced the world to turn towards two forgotten heroes; one who had immortalised himself alongside the likes of Columbus and Livingstone, the other who had placed himself-straight from the abyss- on a pedestal so high no athlete could jump to.

But the legend unfolded in different fashion for both:  one was glorified world over and immolated into space’s first superstar, the other was vilified by people across the globe with just a few standing up for the man he is. One signified the technical brilliance of a once marching nation, the other symbolised the socio-economical debacle and chaos infected country.

Neil Armstrong and Lance Armstrong, the two flag bearers for their own worlds occupied centre stage in the print and television media for almost a week. One was the Superman who shot out of our planet and stepped on alien terrain, the other gave fleeting glimpses of a Superman gone dark. The two Americans hold distinct footprints in the entire journey of man; while Neil opened the doors of a new world for us, Lance unlocked a new level of human potency.

Arguably Neil took the most important leap in the history of mankind, his was a move triggered by a need to retaliate by a nation stuck in a cold war crisis. The urgency to put a man on moon was visible in Kennedy’s address to the nation; the success of Apollo-11 was no less than a shocker. Had a seismograph been attached to JFK’s skull it would have read ten on Richter scale when Neil stepped forth on the layer of moon.

The Americans needed some kind of boost to reassure themselves of their strength and capability, and Neil was the hero they needed and deserved on both occasions.

Lance on the other hand was stripped of all the seven Tour de France victories and all the prize money he had earned en route.  The US anti-doping authorities squeezed the power out of the monstrous engine which made the Alps and Pyrenees seem dwarf.

The cycling world was a chemistry lab and everyone experimented at some point of time, at times even a pill for a headache could land you in a predicament. And I along with many others still believe that he was being played into something.  But the only thing that annoys the people around including me is that Lance was caught violating the ground rules he had laid down once.  The fact that an innocent man, especially one as competitive as Lance Armstrong, would succumb to the pressure rather than fight to clear his name was just inexplicable. To most, his behaviour was an admission of guilt. The man who fought cancer for millions was gulped down by a massive tumour infecting the sporting world.

Last week the world mourned the demise of two iconic figures, one literally and the other figuratively. Neil who admitted to have never been at peace post the giant leap can now rest eternally but one doubts whether Lance will ever catch an ounce of it.