Los Angeles, Jan 19: Shamed cyclist Lance Armstrong, shorn of cycling's greatest prizes and expelled from sport, wants to compete again and doesn't believe he deserved the "death penalty" of a life ban.
"Hell yes, I'm a competitor," Armstrong told talk show host Oprah Winfrey when asked in the second installment of their televised interview on Friday if he wanted to compete again.
"It's what I've done my whole life. I love to train. I love to race. I love to toe the line," Armstrong said. "Not the Tour de France, but there's a lot of other things I could do.
"I made my bed," he said. "But if there was ever a window, would I like to run the Chicago Marathon when I'm 50? I would love to do that."
In the opening segment of the interview shown Thursday, Armstrong confessed that his record seven Tour de France titles were fueled by drugs, confirming much of the US Anti-Doping Agency's findings about his use of blood-boosting EPO, blood doping, cortisone, testosterone and human growth hormone.
Despite that, Armstrong said he believes he should have a chance to return to competition. "I don't expect it to happen," he acknowledged.
"Frankly, this may not be the most popular answer, but I think I deserve it," he said, telling Winfrey that former team-mates who implicated themselves in testifying against him received lesser punishments.
"I deserve to be punished," Armstrong said. "I'm not sure that I deserve a death penalty."
Thursday's first installment of the interview was a ratings winner for Winfrey, with its estimated 3.2 million viewers in the United States making it the second-most-watched show ever on her fledgling OWN network.
However, it left many still skeptical of Armstrong's motives and methods, doubtful that he felt real remorse.
Genuine emotion seeped through on Friday. Armstrong struggled to keep his composure as he described telling his 13-year-old son Luke: "Don't defend me anymore" when his transgressions caught up with him last year. AFP

Lastupdate on : Sat, 19 Jan 2013 21:30:00 Makkah time
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