Five key quotes from Lance Armstrong's interview - and what they mean

AN EXPERT in psychology helps us make sense of what Lance Armstrong said in his tell-all interview with Oprah.

2 min read

January 18, 2013 - 2:00PM

NewsComAu

LANCE Armstrong has finally come clean and lifted the lid on a cycling career tainted by drug-taking in an explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey.

We asked Melbourne-based psychologist Meredith Fuller to analyse and help us interpret the real meaning of what Armstrong told Oprah at the top of the show.

1. The apology: "This is too late. It's too late for probably most people. And that's my fault."

What it means: He's realising that it's something that people are not going to be able to forgive. He's trying to mitigate the reaction by asking: 'I know it's too little too late, but will you forgive me?'

2. The lie: "One big lie that I repeated a lot of times. It wasn't as if I said no and moved off it. And while I've lived through this process, I know the truth, the truth isn't what I said, and this story was so perfect for so long. It was this mythic, perfect story, and it was not true."

What it means: By saying it was one lie - he is trying to get sympathy by saying it's one thing, over and over, rather than admitting it was a web of deception. It's almost like that boyish thing of saying 'oh poor me, I was under pressure, it was too hard'.

3. The control: "It was impossible to live up to this. I'm a flawed character. All the fault and all the blame falls on me. Whether it's fans or the media, it just gets going and I lost myself in all of that. I certainly couldn't handle it and I used to control everything in my life. I have controlled every outcome in my life."

What it means: He's subtly trying to blame the media. He's trying to orchestrate sympathy, and he's also being a bit 'yes... BUT'. On the one hand he says he's sorry, and the other hand it's a 'but'.

4. The aftermath: "Now the story is so bad, and so toxic, and a lot of it's true."

What it means: It very clearly falls on him. It's very dramatic. Sometimes people will try to take full responsibility as a ploy for forgiveness. I'd be querying - what isn't true? What is he trying to say isn't true? Is he suggesting people have overreacted?

5. The justification: "My cocktail was only EPO, but not a lot and blood transfusions and testosterone, which were almost justified because of my history, with losing one, surely I was running low."

What it means: You cheat or you don't. [Excuses] don't mitigate it. There's no question that Lance Armstrong did a LOT for cancer. And that is terrific. But we need to separate the two pieces of behaviour. He's also betrayed his sport, and his integrity and it's going to be very difficult for people to trust him again. Let's not muddy the water here. He keeps reaching for a 'by the way' with his condition. We need to keep everything separate.

Comprehensive wrap of Lance v Oprah.

- Meredith Fuller spoke to news.com.au reporter Chris Paine.

LANCE v OPRAH - TOMORROW

Join us for complete coverage of the second part of the Lance Armstrong interview from 1pm tomorrow (AEDT).

Armstrong will field questions about his charity Livestrong, the much-maligned photo he posted on Twitter with his Tour jerseys, how his family coped with his disgrace, the message he has for his fans and what's next for him.

Live chat - Analysis from Leo Schlink - Video highlights

Oprah's interview with Armstrong will be shown live in Australia on the Discovery Channel on Foxtel tomorrow at 1PM AEDT.

Social media: Armstrong mocked on #Doprah

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