cycling is a bigger sport than track, even with the Olympics; Lance is on worldwide television for three weeks straight during his Tour years + cancer + best-selling book, Livestrong (however much that was shield to his doping) etc etc...
what track athlete even comes close to his total cultural impact? Even Bolt is more akin a famous figure skater or swimmer, as his off-track relevance is minimal.
yeah but bolt did implant himself into the cultural psyche in 2008 especially. plus his damn last name is perfect!
bolt for awhile was maybe the most famous athlete PERIOD in the world.
yeah but bolt did implant himself into the cultural psyche in 2008 especially. plus his damn last name is perfect!
bolt for awhile was maybe the most famous athlete PERIOD in the world.
Not even close. Messi? Renaldo?
Bolt is far more widely known than most cyclists. OK Lance Armstrong was already more famous than most cyclists get because he was American and the cancer story, but worldwide his fame was more than doubled due to the doping scandal. Chris Froome is also a multiple Tour De France champion and has half the Instagram followers of Kipchoge, and less than 1/10th of Bolt.
Armstrong won the Tour de France 7 times in a row. His fame was bigger than his cancer story or being an American. Bolt is the only one in the track world in the last 20 years that could come close to the fame that Armstrong enjoyed in his heyday.
The face of Nike running has tested positive. You can probably guess who. However, Nike are attempting to cover it up - for the benefit of the sport etc. Lance testing positive destroyed cycling in America. This post will likely be deleted soon.
The only "Lance Armstrong level" athletes out there right now would be Lebron, Tiger, or Tom Brady. There aren't currently anyone at that level in Track or running in general.
There's more than one interpretation than that. It COULD mean a Lance-as-related-to-cycling level of a bust. A running figure who is just as big within the running community as Lance was to the cycling world, could be the point. Or an American figure who is a "star" in America (think Noah Lyles, possibly or McLaughlin) Kipchoge would fit that on a World scale. Maybe Jacob I. SAFP could fit that. It doesn't have to be a perfect comparison to get the gist of the claim. While I think this is a beautiful job of trolling, I personally don't think anything will come out
yeah but bolt did implant himself into the cultural psyche in 2008 especially. plus his damn last name is perfect!
bolt for awhile was maybe the most famous athlete PERIOD in the world.
Not even close. Messi? Renaldo?
On the world stage for sure but not in the US. Over the past few years they have become more famous though. The test I use is my 83 year old neighbor who doesn't follow sports. She knew who Lance Armstrong is, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and some historic guys like Babe Ruth. She can't name a single current MLB player, NBA player (not even LeBraon) or a single current NFL player including Tom Brady is. If she has heard of the person they are non-sports famous. If not they aren't. She has heard of Usain Bolt but couldn't name a single other runner. That means there is no current runner on Lance's level.