Cycling: Australia fires Olympian

SYDNEY: Cycling Australia sacked former Olympian Matt White yesterday for his role in the Lance Armstrong doping scandal, ruling out any amnesty for athletes who used drugs if they owned up. The sport’s governing body in Australia held a board meeting on Tuesday evening to discuss the dossier of evidence by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and admitted it was ‘incredibly damaging for cycling worldwide’. “The evidence presented is damning, the behaviour of the key players is morally reprehensible and cycling fans have every right to feel let down,” it said in a statement. White, 38, admitted at the weekend that he was part of a strategy of doping when he rode on the Armstrong-led US Postal Service cycling team from 2001 to 2003. Cycling Australia said he had made a valuable contribution but it was left with no choice but to dismiss him.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 18^th, 2012.