LIZZIE’S CRYING SHAME
Pendleton: She is to blame for drug hell
And unless the London 2012 silver medallist can summon powers of mental fortitude in today’s Olympic women’s road race, the row over her three missed drug tests could consume her like the Copacabana surf here.
Armitstead, 27, was among the favourites for gold until the devastating revelation that she only escaped a ban after a legal battle to overturn the first of those three strikes.
She has cut a distracted figure during tearful interviews to explain her mistakes, saying: “People will think I’m a cheat for the rest of my life.”
And even Britain’s double Olympic gold medallist Victoria Pendleton has cast doubt on Armitstead’s ability to push the storm aside.
Pendleton (right) warned: “It is not easy to watch what Lizzie is going through and I am afraid it might have a negative effect on her performance.
“She was one of the strongest contenders for gold. Either way, as she admitted, people will be asking questions of her for the rest of her career.
“It is really sad, but the truth is she only has herself to blame.”
Armitstead is the unlikeliest doper and there is no suggestion that she has ever been sustained by illicit rocket fuel. She said: “I’m not at the point of accepting it yet, but I’ll have to come to the point of accepting that people will doubt me. “I’m absolutely devastated because people are going to judge me and my family, but I will never cheat in any walk of life. “I hate dopers and what they have done to cycling. I am not a victim and I don’t need to behave like one, but I have had animosity from so many corners and, if I took everything personally, I would break – and I can’t afford to do that. “What I can do is to look every one of my competitors in the eye because I have never doped. I have never cheated.” ADAM PEATY confirmed himself as Britain’s hottest Olympic favourite by smashing his own world record – in his swimming heat.
The 21-year-old is bidding to become the first British man to win gold in the pool since Adrian Moorhouse at Seoul in 1988.
That was in the 100m breaststroke and 28 years on, in the same event, Peaty powered to victory in 57.55 seconds (left) nearly half a second inside his previous best.
“I went out pretty fast, quite easy, came back and I heard everyone cheering,” he said.
“I thought, ‘What are they cheering for, there’s no Brazilians in this lane?’.”
He found out when he looked up at the clock to see he had cut 0.37secs off his old world mark.