Lance Armstrong had a succession of Tour De France wins between 1999 and 2005, it was always in question if he had taken performance enhancing drugs to get the edge on his competitors. According to the cyclist of Oprah, a popular American talk show, he felt that doping was part of job, a necessity in order to win the Tour and to be part of a ‘level playing field’. When asked if he felt bad about taking drugs he only replied that it was scary. Armstrong admitted also to be a ‘bully’ and would ‘turn on people‘ if he did not like what they were saying – this he felt was due to his commitment to winning, and would fight if backed against a wall. Read the full story here
Vocabulary.
performance enhancing drugs – drugs taken to improve performance during sport
get the edge – improve better than competitors
level playing field – to make things equal
turn on people – attack people, verbally or physically
backed against a wall – forced into a bad situation