Lance Armstrong
Born: September 18, 1971
Plano, Texas
Also known as: Lance Edward Gunderson (birth
name); Lance Edward Armstrong (full name);
Mellow Johnny
Early Life
On September 18, 1971, Lance Edward Gunderson was born to seventeen-year-old Linda Gayle
Mooneyham and Eddie Charles Gunderson. Lance’s
parents divorced before he was two years old. When
Lance was three, his mother married Terry Armstrong, who adopted Lance. The couple divorced,
and Lance’s mother raised him by herself.
Lance Armstrong racing in 2002. (AP/Wide World
Photos)
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Cycling
By fifth grade, Lance was already a great endurance athlete. His mother encouraged him in
sports, and Lance credits her for his work ethic and
ability to persevere. He excelled in the triathlon, a
challenging event consisting of swimming, bicycling, and running. At the age of thirteen, he won
his first IronKids Triathlon and was a professional
triathlete at sixteen years old. He also competed
in local bike races. In 1988, Triathlete magazine
named him rookie of the year. Lance was the National Sprint Triathlon Champion in 1989 and
1990.
The Road to Excellence
Lance’s favorite event was bicycle racing. He left
high school during his senior year to train with the
U.S. Olympic cycling development team in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He later attended private
classes in order to receive his high school diploma.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Cycling Federation had recruited him for its junior national team, and in
1989, Lance competed in the Junior World Championships in Moscow, Soviet Union (now Russia).
After high school, Lance had success on the amateur cycling circuit. In 1990 and 1991, he rode
with the Subaru-Montgomery team and joined the
U.S. National Cycling Team in 1991. At the 1990
World Championship Road Race, he placed eleventh, posting the fastest time of any American
since 1976. In 1991, he became the national amateur road race champion, and he defeated the
world’s best professional cyclists at a difficult multiple-stage race, the Settimana Bergamasca (later
known as Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda) (Lombardic cycling week), in Italy. At the U.S. Olympic
time trials, Lance finished second. He was favored
to win the road race at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, but he finished fourteenth. After the Olympics, he became a professional cyclist with the
Motorola team based in the United States.
The Emerging Champion
Lance finished last in his first professional race, the
1992 San Sebastián Classic in Spain. He refused to
quit and became a cycling superstar within the next
Racing and Individual Sports
Lance Armstrong
few years. In 1993, he won the Union
Honors and Awards
Cycliste Internationale Road World
Championship and the CoreStates
1992, 1996, 2000 U.S. Olympic team
United States Professional Racing
1993, 1995-96, 1998-99, 2002, 2005 Selected VeloNews magazine’s North American
Male Cyclist of the Year
Organization National Road Cham1999 Received Mendrisio d’Or Award in Switzerland
pionship. He won the Tour of AmerSelected ABC’s Wide World of Sports Athlete of
ica, the Thrift Drug Classic, the
the Year
Trofeo Laigueglia, and the Kmart
1999-2001,
2003-04
Received
Velo d’Or Award by Velo Magazine,
West Virginia Classic. In 1994, he
France
won the Thrift Drug Classic again.
1999, 2001-03 Selected United States Olympic Committee
In 1993 and 1995, he won stages
(USOC) SportsMan of the Year
in the Tour de France, the world’s
2000 Bronze medal, Olympic Games
most prestigious cycling race. Started
VeloNews, Male Cyclist of the Year
in 1903, the event is a twenty-threeWorld’s Most Outstanding Athlete Award, Jesse
day, twenty-one-stage road race over
Owens International Trophy
more than 2,000 miles in France and
Laureus World Comeback of the Year
nearby countries. Lance became the
2000-01, 2003-04 Selected VeloNews magazine’s International
first American to win a European
Cyclist of the Year
one-day classic when he won the
2002 Selected Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year
1995 San Sebastián Classic. In 1995
2002-05 Selected Associated Press Male Athlete of the
and 1996, he won the prestigious
Year
Tour Du Pont, which covered sev2003 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year
eral Mid-Atlantic states.
Selected Reuters Sportsman of the Year
By 1996, Lance was ranked the
Received BBC Sports Personality of the Year
number-one cyclist in the world. He
Overseas Personality Award
competed at the 1996 Summer Olym2003-06 Received ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete
pics in Atlanta, Georgia, and signed
2004 Awarded Trophee de L’Academie des Sport,
France
a lucrative contract with the French
team Cofidis. However, in October,
Lance was diagnosed with malignant
In the 2005 Tour de France, Lance rode for the
testicular cancer, which had spread to his brain
Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team, formerly the
and lungs. He was given only a 50 percent chance
U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team. He retired
of living. In 1997, before he knew if he would refrom competitive racing after winning his seventh
cover, he established the Lance Armstrong Founand final Tour de France; he set the record for the
dation (LAF) to help the cancer community
most wins ever.
through advocacy, education, and research. AfAfter retiring in 2005, Lance devoted more time
ter undergoing surgeries and aggressive chemoto his cancer foundation and other projects. In
therapy, he recovered and returned to cycling in
2006, a group of sports celebrities including Lance,
1998.
Andre Agassi, Muhammad Ali, Mia Hamm, Jackie
Joyner-Kersee, and Cal Ripken, Jr., established AthContinuing the Story
letes for Hope to help other athletes become inIn the summer of 1999, as the lead rider of the
volved in sports philanthropy. Lance won the best
newly formed U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team,
athlete award at the Kids’ Choice Awards in 2006
Lance became the second American to win the
and was named male athlete of the year at the 2006
Tour de France and the first riding with an AmeriESPY Awards show. He ran in the 2006 New York
can team. Lance and the team won the Tour de
City Marathon and raised more than $600,000 for
France every year from 1999 to 2004. With his sixth
LiveStrong/LAF. In December, 2007, Lance was
consecutive win in 2004, he broke the record set by
part of the seven-country United Service OrganizaMiguel Indurain, who was the first to win five in a
tions holiday tour for U.S. troops.
row, from 1991 to 1995.
21
Lance Armstrong
Major Championships
1991 U.S. National Amateur Champion
1992 First Union Grand Prix
Thrift Drug Classic
1993 $1 million Thrift Drug Triple Crown
U.S. National Road Race Championship
World Championship
1994 Thrift Drug Classic
1995 Classico San Sebastian
1995-96 Tour DuPont
1996 Fleche Wallone
1998 Cascade Classic
Rheinland Pfalz Rundfahrt
Sprint 56K Criterium
Tour of Luxembourg
1999 Boxmeer Criterium
1999, 2000-05 Tour de France
Summary
The legendary Lance Armstrong is considered one
of the greatest and most inspirational athletes ever.
From 1999 to 2005, he set a world record with seven
consecutive Tour de France victories. Even more
22
Great Athletes
awe inspiring was that he won these races after a
near-death battle with cancer. He became a world
representative for the cancer community. By December, 2007, his LAF had provided more than
$20.3 million for research and more than $6.1 million in grants to community organizations. Lance’s
memoir, It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life
became a New York Times bestseller.
In September, 2008, Lance shocked the world
by announcing his intention to return to competitive racing. Moreover, he stated his intention of
winning the Tour de France in 2009.
Alice Myers
Additional Sources
Armstrong, Lance. It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey
Back to Life. New York: Berkley Books, 2001.
Armstrong, Lance, and Sally Jenkins. Every Second
Counts. New York: Broadway Books, 2003.
Coyle, Daniel. Lance Armstrong’s War. New York:
HarperCollins, 2005.
Kearns, Brad. How Lance Does It. New York: McGrawHill, 2007.