By Carrie McKim, Pine Whispers

When people hear the name Lance Armstrong, adjectives such as driven, strong and determined often come to mind. Recently, though, Armstrong lost a lot of what defines him as an athlete and some would argue he lost most of what made him a role model.

Armstrong was stripped of his seven straight Tour de France titles, his Olympic bronze medal and his career earnings as perhaps the most famous cyclist of all time as far back as August 1998.

The United States Anti-Doping Agency accused him of taking performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career. While Armstrong denies having ever “doped” whenever charges have been brought against him, he announced on Aug. 23 that he was not going to continue to fight the charges, saying, “…enough is enough.”

By giving up the fight against his accusers, Armstrong ended the arbitration process and automatically lost his titles.

While I used to respect Armstrong as an amazing athlete and am still impressed by all of his work on behalf of cancer charities, I can’t help but feel that the stories surrounding him are pretty convincing. A few of Armstrong’s teammates, such as Frankie Andreu, have spoken out against him, and the agency said more teammates were prepared to testify on their behalf. Andreu’s wife, Betsy, also famously criticized Armstrong in 2005, claiming that she heard him tell doctors that he had used human growth hormone and steroids.

One of Armstrong’s personal assistants, Mike Anderson, has also accused him of doping, saying that “…the evidence I saw and heard was convincing to me…” While it is a possibility that these people are lying, I can’t think of a reason as to why.

What’s in it for them if Armstrong is stripped of his titles? What would they get for tarnishing an innocent man’s record? Some would argue that they did it out of jealousy or bitterness, but instead of tearing Armstrong down, the public and media have scorned his critics for speaking against such an influential man.

I also have to wonder why Armstrong stopped the arbitration process. By cutting it short, is he trying to make sure the public doesn’t hear what some of the people testifying knew and were willing to say? Maybe he is protecting what is left of his reputation.

There are still many unanswered questions. Armstrong has had no positive drug test results that he was not able to back up with a doctor’s note or prescription. This means that the arbitration was prepared to move forward without much physical evidence, although USADA officials mentioned possessing some incriminating blood test results. Many are skeptical of penalizing a man who has passed literally hundreds of doping tests and for whom there is no definitive proof of guilt.

I also realize that while much of Armstrong’s legacy had to do with his athletic career, he is also defined by beating cancer as well as raising millions of dollars for cancer research.

Whether or not he doped, Armstrong has left an undeniable mark on the world in that aspect, and that can’t be changed.