Armstrong had a memorable childhood. He was born on September 18, 1971 in Plano, Texas. He was named after a Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Lance Rentzel. His mother is Linda Armstrong Kelly and his biological father is Eddie Gunderson. Eddie left Linda and Lance when Lance was nine years old. Armstrong’s mother raised him in the suburbs of Dallas. His mother met Terry Armstrong and married him; Terry adopted Lance and helped raise him. Lance was very active and athletic as a child.
Armstrong became active in sports when he was ten years old. Armstrong practiced a lot and took up competitive cycling at the age thirteen. He also started competing in triathlons when he was thirteen years old. Armstrong was very good at …show more content…
Not many believed that Armstrong would survive including his team, Cofidis. His contract of 600,000 dollars per year was cancelled. He eventually found the United States Postal Service team who gave him a 200,000 dollars per year contract. Armstrong was accused of taking performance enhancing drugs, but his blood and urine tests had no trace of the substances. He won a total of thirty-seven bicycle races throughout his year, and seven of those wins were his seven Tour de France wins after surviving cancer. Armstrong described the sensation of winning in this quote, “If I could bottle that up and sell it, I’d be the richest man in the world.” (pg. 47, Christine M. Hill). Armstrong also started a cancer foundation called the Lance Armstrong Foundation, and later called LiveStrong, in 1997 in Austin, Texas. The foundation was made “to inspire and empower people affected by cancer”. The foundation has thrived