13 December,2012 09:26 AM IST | | AFP
Former Olympic swimming champion Ian Thorpe said on Wednesday he was "happy" at Lance Armstrong's downfall and congratulated the doping authorities that exposed the seven-time Tour de France winner as a drug cheat.
"I was happy. It shows that no matter who you are and whatever you do, you can fall," Thorpe said on the closing day of the Doha Goals sporting forum.
The Australian legend paid tribute to the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and its president Travis Tygart who was at the heart of revealing the cyclist's Armstrong's doping that made him the biggest name in the sport. Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from the sport for life in October after the USADA produced evidence of widespread doping by him and his former team-mates. Tygart, also attending the conference in Doha, said:
"The culture that reigns in USA and elsewhere is one of the reasons that lead to doping. The fight against doping is at the centre of our debates here."u00a0
