The disgraced cyclist is banned from competing in the
swimming event this coming weekend and all future U.S. Masters Swimming events.
Lance Armstrong is no longer scheduled to compete in the
U.S. Masters Swimming. The disgraced athlete who was banned from cycling for
life by the Anti-Doping Agency was originally set to compete against other
swimmers this coming weekend, but now he is forced to withdraw from the
swimming event in his hometown of Austin after the International Swimming
Federation (FINA) ruled he should be banned from the event.
Rob Butcher, executive director of U.S. Masters Swimming,
explained the situation in a statement to CNN, "The word back is that he
is not eligible to participate in our competition because FINA follows the WADA
code -- the World Anti-Doping Authority code." He added, "So the
takeaway is: while he has entered and you'll see him on a heat sheet, he is not
eligible to participate in that event. Or any other U.S.M.S competition."
Butcher said he had notified Armstrong's camp about the
issue and the cyclist was allegedly willing to back out of the event set to
take place April 5-7. Butcher said, "After giving them this news, his
people, not talking to him directly but his management team, said, 'You know
what: we don't want to cause harm to your organization. We're not trying to
create a sideshow circus for you guys. He's just going to withdraw or not show up
for the event.' "
Armstrong himself had been hyping up his upcoming return
to competition world on his Twitter and he seemed to be disgruntled by how
things turned out. He said as quoted by New York Times, "I was told all
along that I was more than welcome to compete in masters meets by U.S.M.S. Then
all of a sudden, I'm not welcome? I don't get it."
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