As my colleague Juliet Macur reports, Nike severed ties with the former cyclist Lance Armstrong on Wednesday. The company, which sold millions of yellow rubber bracelets branded “LIVESTRONG†in support of the cyclist's foundation, said in a short statement, “Due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that Lance Armstrong participated in doping and misled Nike for more than a decade, it is with great sadness that we have terminated our contract with him.â€
The evidence Nike refers to is a 202-page report - supported by hundreds of pages of documents and witness testimony from Armstrong's former teammates - outlining what the United States Anti-Doping Agency called “the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen.â€
All that can be a bit daunting for readers to pour thro ugh, so thankfully the Australian Broadcasting Corporation has produced a comprehensive overview of the Armstrong doping case in a documentary shown this week called “The World According to Lance.†The program, featuring Quentin McDermott, a reporter for the ABC's investigative program “Four Corners,†presents the accounts of several witnesses who spoke to the antidoping agency, and explains in clear terms how cheating was rife on Armstrong's team, sponsored by the United States Postal Service.
