Five months following his record shattering seventh Tour de France victory, the accolades continue to mount for Lance Armstrong. In thre last week of 2005 Lance pulled off yet another victory when he was honored as The Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for the fourth straight year. Making the award all the more special is the fact that he is the only athlete to be selected by U.S. sports writers four times since the honor first was awarded in 1931.
Cyclists around the world should take pride knowing that in the final vote, Lance drubbed several well-known athletes from the more traditionally recognized ball sports. Armstrong received 30 of the 83 votes cast. U.S. college gridiron football running back Reggie Bush of the University of Southern California was second with 23 votes, and Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was third with eight, followed by tennis star Roger Federer and golf's Tiger Woods with seven each.
"It's nice to win," Armstrong said. "I'll never win again. I'd hoped to go out on top. As a sportsman it's really hard to do, to time it right." The 34-year-old Armstrong retired after deciding there were no more mountains to conquer on his bike.
"I may have to take up golf," he said. "Take on Tiger." Armstrong calls his 2005 season "a dream." His final Tour was another dominant performance - he won by the comfortable margin of 4 minutes, 40 seconds. Stepping off the winner's podium for the final time, his goal was to kick back "with a beer, having a blast" and play with his three young children from his first marriage.
In other Lance news, as USA Today began closing out the year, they rated Lance’s seventh win as the third most notable sporting story in 2005, following the Raphael Palmiero steroids case and the apparent break-up between the Philadelphia Eagles and Tyrell Owens.
And what perhaps might be the final, year-end accolade for Lance, the Jan./Feb. 2006 issue of Hooked on the Outdoors magazine honored Lance as their 2005 Outdoor Person of the Year. Citing his achievements of not only being one of the greatest bike riders ever, but also his inspiration in helping to raise over $9 million dollars for cancer research, Hooked couldn’t help but ask the obvious question when it came to announcing the winner, “ Big surprise, huh?”
