We’ve all seen examples of scandals come up in the corporate world. Samsung’s exploding phones, Bayer Aspirin’s scandal, and many more. But we’ve also seen scandals of similar scale come up in the sports world, such as when Russia was banned completely from the 2018 Winter Olympics for using performance enhancing drugs. The scandal that resonates the most with me, however, is one that encapsulates both the corporate and the sports world: Lance Armstrong’s doping scandal. For those who don’t know, Lance Armstrong was a professional cyclist. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer in the mid-90’s. While fighting cancer, he created the Livestrong Foundation, which raised money to help cancer patients and fund cancer research. In 1997, he was declared cancer free, and returned to cycling, winning the Tour de France, one of the world’s premier cycling races. He would proceed to win seven straight Tour de France titles, earning tons of money in corporate sponsorships, raising loads of money for the Livestrong Foundation, and cementing himself as an American cycling legend. However, in 2012, the United States Anti-Doping Agency ran an investigation on Armstrong. He was found guilty of doping, and was stripped of his seven titles. In 2013, he admitted to doping in a televised interview, saying that he believed he was “leveling the playing field” by doping, rather than gaining an unfair advantage over competitors. He was also found to have pressured numerous other American cyclists into also taking performance enhancing drugs. He claimed he lost approximately $75 million in a single day after his admission, through his loss of sponsorships and other public support.
https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/video/armstrongs-doping-downfall