The Lance Armstrong Story - What Next For David Walsh? Interview Pt. 6
Uploaded by globalcyclingnetwork on 13.01.2013
Transcript:
So moving on to a new subject, a lot of people have been asked what comes next for Lance
Armstrong but I don’t think so many people have asked what comes next for you now? You’ve
spent 13 years investigating?
Yeah I mean I.. even though I.. it did take up a huge chunk of my life the Armstrong story
and certainly in my head, my God, when I look back there are times when I, when I couldn’t
stand in a queue at a supermarket and if I saw somebody wearing a yellow Livestrong wristband
I would have to go and engage in a conversation with that person. I mean I’d look and say
“Hi how are you?” and they’d say “Fine, strange that you should be talking to me but
I’m OK” and I’d say “And are you an Armstrong fan?” and they’d say “Yeah,
yeah I do I admire the guy you know, he’s set up a great cancer charity and you know
I like this wristband because it enables me to support cancer” and I’d say “well
you know he’s a fraud” and they’d say “What?!” and I’d say “Well this guy,
he uses doping products to win big bike races and he’s telling a lie” and they’d say
“I don’t believe that” and I’d say “Well, would you like me to give you the
evidence?” and they’d say “No” and then I walk away and I feel a bit frustrated
but that’s how I was for years, I couldn’t, I couldn’t see somebody out there who I
knew to be an Armstrong supporter and not confront them and it was that..it was like...
it was every time I was out that I saw somebody. You know you’d go to a dinner party and
some guy would come over, I mean a woman rang my wife recently and she said “Do you remember
9 years ago you came to my house for dinner yourself and Dave came?” and my wife said
“Yes” Carl is the woman's name she said “Remember the other friends we had that
you didn’t know?” she said “Remember the guy he was, he was er a third level teacher
lecturer and he started getting at you, he started getting at your husband about Lance
Armstrong and Dave was trying to say that Armstrong was a cheat and this guy was trying
to say that Dave was wrong for calling him a cheat and our dinner was spoilt by this
guy basically attacking your husband?” you know I’d forgotten this completely because
there was plenty of stuff like this but the woman was really kind of upset she said “I
was upset that night because I thought your husband was entitled to his view our other
dinner guest shouldn’t have been attacking him and now she said when I see, when I see
what’s happened” she said “I’m going to call the guy up and I’m going to remind
him of how wrong he was and that he owes your husband an apology.” But actually people
don’t come.. on Twitter I’ve had loads of people who’ve said I’m really sorry
for doubting you and I’m really sorry that I thought you were an asshole uhm because
that’s what they thought at the time but lots of people have come back and said you
were right actually and well done so uhm so you know that’s been pleasing too.
Has that been from both the general public but also from your peers and colleagues?
Erm, more general public than peers and colleagues I have to say, God I mean I uhm.. loads of
colleagues have been incredibly generous I’ve had loads of messages, emails Tweets and text
messages from fellow journalists. The journalists I haven’t heard from really are the ones
I got into arguments with, the ones that defended Armstrong. I remember, I remember colleague
of mine he said to me “If you hate Lance Armstrong so much and you don’t believe
him” and I said “I don’t hate him I just don’t believe him there’s nothing
personal in this, this is about doping and about protecting the sport for clean riders.”
He said “Well if that’s the way you feel that Armstrong is a fraud and he’s going
to win the tour again like why do you go on the tour?” he said “Why don’t you just
stay at home and let.. leave it?” and I said, I said “Well if I don’t go I said
I leave the field open for basically assholes like you to go there and write bull because
you’re not going to ask any questions and the one thing we need in this story is journalists
asking questions.”
Armstrong but I don’t think so many people have asked what comes next for you now? You’ve
spent 13 years investigating?
Yeah I mean I.. even though I.. it did take up a huge chunk of my life the Armstrong story
and certainly in my head, my God, when I look back there are times when I, when I couldn’t
stand in a queue at a supermarket and if I saw somebody wearing a yellow Livestrong wristband
I would have to go and engage in a conversation with that person. I mean I’d look and say
“Hi how are you?” and they’d say “Fine, strange that you should be talking to me but
I’m OK” and I’d say “And are you an Armstrong fan?” and they’d say “Yeah,
yeah I do I admire the guy you know, he’s set up a great cancer charity and you know
I like this wristband because it enables me to support cancer” and I’d say “well
you know he’s a fraud” and they’d say “What?!” and I’d say “Well this guy,
he uses doping products to win big bike races and he’s telling a lie” and they’d say
“I don’t believe that” and I’d say “Well, would you like me to give you the
evidence?” and they’d say “No” and then I walk away and I feel a bit frustrated
but that’s how I was for years, I couldn’t, I couldn’t see somebody out there who I
knew to be an Armstrong supporter and not confront them and it was that..it was like...
it was every time I was out that I saw somebody. You know you’d go to a dinner party and
some guy would come over, I mean a woman rang my wife recently and she said “Do you remember
9 years ago you came to my house for dinner yourself and Dave came?” and my wife said
“Yes” Carl is the woman's name she said “Remember the other friends we had that
you didn’t know?” she said “Remember the guy he was, he was er a third level teacher
lecturer and he started getting at you, he started getting at your husband about Lance
Armstrong and Dave was trying to say that Armstrong was a cheat and this guy was trying
to say that Dave was wrong for calling him a cheat and our dinner was spoilt by this
guy basically attacking your husband?” you know I’d forgotten this completely because
there was plenty of stuff like this but the woman was really kind of upset she said “I
was upset that night because I thought your husband was entitled to his view our other
dinner guest shouldn’t have been attacking him and now she said when I see, when I see
what’s happened” she said “I’m going to call the guy up and I’m going to remind
him of how wrong he was and that he owes your husband an apology.” But actually people
don’t come.. on Twitter I’ve had loads of people who’ve said I’m really sorry
for doubting you and I’m really sorry that I thought you were an asshole uhm because
that’s what they thought at the time but lots of people have come back and said you
were right actually and well done so uhm so you know that’s been pleasing too.
Has that been from both the general public but also from your peers and colleagues?
Erm, more general public than peers and colleagues I have to say, God I mean I uhm.. loads of
colleagues have been incredibly generous I’ve had loads of messages, emails Tweets and text
messages from fellow journalists. The journalists I haven’t heard from really are the ones
I got into arguments with, the ones that defended Armstrong. I remember, I remember colleague
of mine he said to me “If you hate Lance Armstrong so much and you don’t believe
him” and I said “I don’t hate him I just don’t believe him there’s nothing
personal in this, this is about doping and about protecting the sport for clean riders.”
He said “Well if that’s the way you feel that Armstrong is a fraud and he’s going
to win the tour again like why do you go on the tour?” he said “Why don’t you just
stay at home and let.. leave it?” and I said, I said “Well if I don’t go I said
I leave the field open for basically assholes like you to go there and write bull because
you’re not going to ask any questions and the one thing we need in this story is journalists
asking questions.”