I think everyone should have access to performance enhancing drugs, ADHD or not. They should always be taken in consultation with a medical professional, but the effects are clearly positive for most people. I find myself entirely unable to get upset at Armstrong (or any cyclist) for this doping. Well-financed athletes already take advantage of significant technical enhancements (in training, analysis, etc.) that are not available to everyone.
Exactly - we have so many advantages in place already for certain people, what's one more? Athletes get countless bonuses because of their time, their money, and their sponsorship. Likewise, consider education: hundreds of thousands of dollars, years of time go into universities, and not everyone can get those advantages. That education makes a very uneven playing ground, to the disadvantage of millions. Yet we seem to fear that performance enhancing drugs will cause an imbalance in physical strength or intellect? I can't accept that.
I think what a lot of people are upset with regarding Armstrong, is that he actively sued the people accusing him and in some instances ruined lives in order to claim innocence while knowing all along that he was anything but. At least that is what I have gathered. I've not followed this very closely.
Couldn't agree more and I couldn't care less about what he did. Its between him and the people he wronged. And yes, he seems like a dick. Hell of an athlete though.
Endurance, yes. Athleticism is required in all competitive sports. I am always partial to team sports, because they combine physicality with so many more mental elements and cooperation. Creativity isn't required in race running in the same way it is in, say, soccer or hockey.
By saying that well financed athletes can take advantage of technical enhancements, you imply that the sport is not about your ability in that sport but your overall status/wealth in life. I disagree and think that how well you can perform in any sport should be about your skill not what you can buy to improve your ability (idealistically). I understand what you mean by saying this, but I think there should be a disconnect (between those who can and those who can't without external help) that does not allow people to buy the gold medal.