Beating Cancer and Records

Beating Cancer and Records

Lance Armstrong is known as one of the most magnificent athletes of his era. He defeated cancer and afterwards he broke records in his cycling career. Lance “Malliot Jaune” Armstrong had so much going on in his life through his personal life, career, during cancer, and also before he turned pro at the age of 16 (Lance).

Lance’s personal life was full of ups and downs and turnarounds. A high part of Lance’s life was being married to Kristen “Kirk” Richard, but then he got a divorce from her which was a low part for Lance (Armstrong). Lance was born in Plano, Texas on September 18, 1971 and was named Lance Edward Gunderson but was adopted by Terry and Linda Armstrong (Thompson 94). Lance has 3 kids, Luke David Armstrong, twin daughters named Isabelle Rose and Grace Elizabeth (Thompson 94). He wrote two books It’s Not About the Bike and Every Second Counts (Lance). Armstrong stands at 5’ 11” and pedals 95-100 times per minute (Anderson).

Lance struggled during his cancer time, but he fought through it will all he had and he ended up being lucky and survived. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer on October 2, 1996 (Thompson 94). His chances for surviving were less than 50%, but he beat the odds (Anderson). Lance’s testicular cancer spread to his brain and lungs and had the infected testicle removed and had brain surgery also (Lance). The heart of Lance Armstrong is 30% larger than normal (Armstrong). The Lance Armstrong Foundation was created in 1997 by Lance Armstrong and they sold millions of the yellow “LIVESTRONG” wristbands and made millions of dollars to help fight cancer in other people (Thompson 12). Every single Tour de France win for Lance came after defeating cancer and having surgery (Armstrong).

The pre-professional career of Lance Armstrong almost didn’t let him become pro in cycling. Lance attended Clark High School in Plano, Texas (Armstrong). He almost didn’t graduate high school because of all the junior cycling races and triathlons he was a part of (Anderson). Lance ended up graduating and had a high school education (Thompson 20). At the age of sixteen Lance made 20,000$ a year by racing in cycling races and triathlons (Thompson). Lance did win the 1984 Iron Kids Triathlon and then qualified for JR. World Championship in Moscow, Russia in 1989 (Anderson). After graduating, Lance was called by his idol Chris