Spoken Discourse

Spoken Discourse Homework
Lance Armstrong Interview With Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey: Every article I've seen and everything I've written begins with the word disgraced. Do you feel disgraced?

Lance Armstrong: "Of course but I also feel humbled and I feel ashamed. This is not good stuff."

What was the most humbling moment that brought you face-to-face with yourself?

"I believe it was a Wednesday. [Sponsors] Nike called - this isn't the most humbling moment, I'll get to that - and they said basically that they were out. OK? And then the calls started coming. Trek, Giro, Anheuser-Bush..."

On the same day, the same couple of days?

"Yeah, a couple of days. Everybody out, still not the most humbling moment. Not a fun period."

How did that hit you, though?

"You know, in a way I just assumed we'd get to that point. The story was getting out of control, which was my worst nightmare. I had this place in my mind that they would all leave. The one I didn't think would leave was the [Livestrong] / Foundation.

"That was the most humbling moment. To get that phone call - first to step down as chairman and stay on the board, but that wasn't enough for the people and for our supporters and then a couple of weeks later the next call came to step aside. They said 'we need you to consider stepping down for yourself' and I had to think about it a lot.

"The Foundation is like my sixth child and to make that decision and to step aside was big. It was the best thing for the organisation but it hurt like hell. That was the lowest."

Of everything that has happened in this entire process, in this fall from grace, has that been the toughest?

"That was the lowest, the lowest."

Can Livestrong live without your story?

"I certainly hope so. Yeah, I hope so."

Because your story transcended sports and gave hope to so many people fighting cancer. I have this email that a friend sent to me after finding out I was going to be doing this interview and it said 'I have heard that he is a real jerk but I will always root for Lance. He gave me hope at a very dire time. My first-born son had just been diagnosed with leukaemia two weeks before his first birthday. I'm in intensive care barely able to breathe and my brother sends me Lance's new book, It's Not About the Bike, I read it cover to cover through the night, it showed me that there was hope for my son to not only live but to thrive. I had a choice to make that night on how I would respond to my son's illness and teach him how to face the world. My prayer to Lance is that as he faces his demons he remembers it's not about the bike.

"Amen."

Are you facing your demons?

"Absolutely. Absolutely, yeah. It's a process and I think, you know, we're at the beginning of the process."

What has been the financial cost? Have you lost everything?

"I've lost all future income. You could look at the day and a half when people left. You asked me the cost. I don't like thinking about it but it was a $75m day. All gone and probably never coming back."

How did it hit you?

"I've been to a dark place that was not my doing where I didn't know if I would live a month, six months, a year, five years, 10 years and it has helped me now. This is not a good time but it isn't the worst part of my life. You can't compare this to an advanced diagnosis. That sets the bar. It is close but I'm an optimist and I like to look forward. This has caused me to look back and I don't like that. I'm like my mother like that. We don't talk about the past. I've never spoken about my biological father."

So you came back and you didn't believe it was possible to win seven Tours without doping but you came back not going to dope and you expected to win still?

"Yes, because I thought and still think the sport was very clean. There really was a major shift in the mid-2000s with the biological passports. I thought I was competing on a level playing field.

"I didn't expect to finish third - I expected to win like I always expected and at the end I said I just got beat by two guys who were better. It doesn't sound like what I would say."




The discourse follows a  very formal structure, of standard turn-taking. Lance Armstrong has come under intense pressure following the allegations of his drugs cheating being proved true, and this is shown in the text. Oprah uses long detailed sentences which imply that she is trying to pick Armstrong's mind, almost as a way to put him under pressure and to interrogate him.