Motivation

Goal-setting

Overcoming adversity

 

In October of 1996, number-one ranked cyclist in the world Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with advanced testicular cancer after an excruciating pain he felt while riding his bike. Doctors found that the cancer had spread to his lungs and his brain and was considered potentially life-threatening. In addition to two operations (one to remove the cancerous testicle, another to remove the cancer from the back of his brain), Lance Armstrong was given a more potent, borderline experimental form of chemotherapy to combat the cancer. The treatment was successful, and only five months after his diagnosis he began riding once again.

Born on September 18, 1971, in Plano, Texas, Lance Armstrong began taking part in athletic activities at a youthful age. By 13, he was entering triathlons, later focusing on cycling and turning pro at 16. He won the National Amateur Cycling Championship in 1991, but the following year he finished 14th at the Olympic Summer Games in Barcelona. He rebounded in 1993, winning the Pro Cycling Tour's Triple Crown (major sponsored races in New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco). Lance also raced the European circuit eight months out of the year, spending the rest of the year at his home in Austin, Texas. In 1996, he suffered from fatigue and bronchitis, once again disappointing in the Olympic games, finishing in 12th place. Later that year he would be diagnosed with cancer.

Prior to his return to racing the U.S. Postal Service picked up his sponsorship, and he was back at it in 1998. In 1999 he won his first of six consecutive Tour de France races in dominant fashion, leading the entire way; and in 2001 Lance Armstrong was given a clean bill of health--free of cancer for five years. In 2004, Lance won his record sixth consecutive Tour de France, a feat never matched.