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.
And how often are you bothering your 83 year old neighbour with sports trivia?
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.
LOL at that. Lebron James + Tiger Woods + Tom brady = 153 million followers
Cristiano Ronaldo alone = 507 million followers.
You could probably take the whole NBA together and they probably would barely add up to the amount of followers Cristiano alone has. And keep in mind that would be counting the same persons multiple times.
The reality is Cristiano alone is probably more famous than all Americans professional athletes combined (not counting the same persons twice).
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.
Your 83 year old neighbor is not an accurate reflection of the US population at large lol. Most people know who LeBron is, and many know Tom Brady. These people are obviously non-sports famous. Outside of the president and some famous hollywood stars, there probably isn't a person more famous in the US than LeBron. Under your criteria there are like 10 famous people in the country.
This brings to mind the old saying about how economists have predicted 9 out of the last 5 recessions. “Stay tuned” of course gets some to stay on the edge of their seats for awhile. Someone will get busted and a recession will happen so the OP is not wrong but when he says “a Lance Armstrong” level bust it is like Jamin forecasting an economic depression. That is where the hype and click baiting gets to be sheer manipulation.
Has anyone said maybe it's Rudisha? Maybe it's Rudisha. He could be seen as a "titan" and a Lance within a non-general--public context.
Agreed with the sentiment. I sure as hell hope it isn't Rudisha, but anyway, while I don't think it's reasonable to argue that Rudisha's status is anything like Lance's was, we shouldn't assume the individual in question "really" has a comparable profile to Lance - only that they are sufficiently well-known that somebody could plausibly (even if completely wrongheadedly) think of them as being sort of like Lance.
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.
And how often are you bothering your 83 year old neighbour with sports trivia?
FWIW I actually agree that Usain Bolt is probably just about the only T&F athlete in the history of the world, other than maybe Jesse Owens, with a public profile anything like Lance's. That doesn't matter, though. The OP doesn't have to be correct that the individual in question is on Lance's level - all we know is that the comparison made sense to whoever said it. I doubt very much that they were talking about Hassan Mead or Lindsey Scherf. I wouldn't try to defend the position that Mo Farah or David Rudisha was anything like "the Lance Armstrong of T&F," but I could imagine some bozo thinking of them that way, and for the present purpose, that's all that really counts.
LOL at that. Lebron James + Tiger Woods + Tom brady = 153 million followers
Cristiano Ronaldo alone = 507 million followers.
You could probably take the whole NBA together and they probably would barely add up to the amount of followers Cristiano alone has. And keep in mind that would be counting the same persons multiple times.
The reality is Cristiano alone is probably more famous than all Americans professional athletes combined (not counting the same persons twice).
Since they mentioned Lance I assumed it was in the US where Lebron, Tiger and Brady are 10 times more well know then any soccer player. Everything isn’t measured in Followers.
How many think this inside info is real? show of hands ...
Name names, OP!
The odds are that the OP saw some allusion on this site to Eliud Kipchoge being busted (which was likely erroneous) and decided to act like an insider. That is where the smart money lies and yet so many are presupposing there is something to this.