Lance Armstrong's roles as the chairman of Livestrong, which is a cancer foundation, and the icon of Nike came to an end. The famous bike racing athlete declared that he quit his position as the chairman of Livestrong on Wednesday, October 17. Nike also clarified that it wouldn't give any sponsorship to the famous athlete anymore. Armstrong stated on Livestrong's official site, "This organization, its mission and its supporters are incredibly dear to my heart... I have had the great honor of serving as this foundation's chairman for the last five years and its mission and success are my top priorities." He continued, "Today therefore, to spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career, I will conclude my chairmanship." He will be replaced by Vice Chairman Jeff Garvey. About Garvey, Amstrong commented, "Jeff's guidance and wisdom have been critical to shaping the foundation's work since its earliest days. Jeff was this organization's founding chairman and I have full confidence that under his leadership, the foundation will continue expanding its ability to serve cancer survivors." Meanwhile, Nike stated on its official website, "Due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that Lance Armstrong participated in doping and misled Nike for more than a decade, it is with great sadness that we have terminated our contract with him." It said further, "Nike does not condone the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs in any manner." On Tuesday, October 16, the sports equipment company called Armstrong's longtime representative Bill Stapleton, telling him that they dropped their agreement with the 41-year-old biker which was worth millions of dollars. It didn't give any room for negotiation. "We were Nike family," Stapleton said. Armstrong has experienced several breakdowns with sponsors lately as the effect of his Tour de France winning teams doping scandal, which was alleged by the United States Anti-Doping Agency. Anheuser-Bush stated that it wouldn't continue its sponsorship with the famous Texas-born biker. According to a source, RadioShack also cut its contract of personal services with the athlete. Among others, which dropped their sponsorship of him, were Giro, Trek, Honey Stinger, and FRS. 24 Hour Fitness also stated, "Given the evidence surrounding Lance Armstrong's alleged actions, we have determined that our business relationship with Armstrong no longer aligns with our company's mission and values." A sunglasses production, Oakley, would review its collaboration with the star who played a cameo in "You, Me and Dupree". In June, Armstrong was officially charged by the United States Anti-Doping Agency with doping and trafficking of drugs, according to 2009 and 2010 blood samples. Some cyclists also testified against the biker but he denied it. He then decided not to challenge the organization's charges. According to WADA Code, his failure to dispute the charges made him lose all awards, prizes, as well as his Tour titles given to him after August 1, 1998. He is also not allowed to participate in any sports that use the World Anti-Doping Code.

Lance Armstrong will be stripped of his seven Tour de France titles as a result of his decision not to continue his fight against doping allegations brought by the US Anti-Doping Agency. The athlete, who announced retirement last year, will also be banned from cycling. "It is a sad day for all of us who love sport and our athletic heroes," USADA CEO Travis Tygart said. "This is a heartbreaking example of how the win-at-all-costs culture of sport, if left unchecked, will overtake fair, safe and honest competition." Armstrong insisted his decision was not an admission of guilt, but a move to dedicate more time to his family and his Livestrong foundation to help cancer survivors. "There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, 'Enough is enough.' For me, that time is now," he said. "I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999. Over the past three years, I have been subjected to a two-year federal criminal investigation followed by Travis Tygart's unconstitutional witch hunt." "If I thought for one moment that by participating in USADA's process, I could confront these allegations in a fair setting and - once and for all - put these charges to rest, I would jump at the chance. But I refuse to participate in a process that is so one-sided and unfair." He noted that the results of his tests for performance-enhancing drugs never came back positive. "I know who won those seven Tours," he said. "The same courses, the same rules. The toughest event in the world where the strongest man wins. Nobody can ever change that."

Michael Phelps has always said he wanted to do something that no one has ever done before. He’s all by himself now, and ready to go for more. The world’s greatest swimmer cruised through the anchor leg of the 4×200-meter freestyle relay to earn his record 19th career Olympic medal and 15th gold on Tuesday night, etching a place in history as the most decorated Olympian of all time. “It has been a pretty amazing career but we still have a couple races to go,” he said. Now his remaining four days in the pool at the London Games are all about putting that mark even further out of reach. Phelps has three events to go — the 200 individual medley, the 100 butterfly and the 4×100 medley relay. He won’t be racing for a medal on Wednesday, when he competes in the preliminaries and semifinals of the 200 IM. The big race on Day 5 of the swimming competition will be the men’s 100 freestyle. James “The Missile” Magnussen of Australia owns the leading time going into the final. Nathan Adrian of the U.S. is next on the list, followed by Cuba’s Hanser Garcia. Other top contenders are world record-holder Cesar Cielo of Brazil and Yannick Agnel of France. Kosuke Kitajima will try to make some history of his own in the 200 breaststroke. The Japanese star could become the first maleswimmer to win the same event at three consecutive Olympics, although he’s a long shot after qualifying fifth-fastest for the final. Kitajima’s earlier attempt at a threepeat in the 100 breast fell short. Leading qualifier Kathleen Hersey goes for the first U.S. gold medal in the women’s 200 butterfly since 2000, when Misty Hyman stunnedSusie O’Neill in Sydney. Hours after Phelps earned his 18th medal — a silver in the 200 fly — and his 19th with the relay gold, well-wishers ranging from soccer great Pele to Los Angeles Lakers star Pau Gasol to fellow Olympians and teammates past and present tweeted their congratulations. “To be a part of that is something I’ll tell my kids about,” relay swimmer Ricky Berens said. “It’s just incredible to go down with him.” Phelps tied the record for career medals held by Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina by finishing second in the 200 fly, getting out-touched by South African Chad le Clos at the wall. Phelps angrily tossed his cap in the water, a scowl on his face. About an hour later, he returned with his teammates in tow for the relay. Ryan Lochte led off, followed by Conor Dwyer. Berens gave a lead of nearly 4 seconds to Phelps, who churned through the water and touched in a cumulative time of 6 minutes, 59.70 seconds for his first gold of these games. When Phelps and the others huddled up before the relay, he told them he wanted “a big lead” going into his anchor leg and they delivered. “I started smiling with like 20 meters to go, the first time I think I’ve ever done that in a race,” he said. “I knew we had gotten it.” Phelps has 15 golds in his career, six more than anyone else, to go along with two silvers and two bronzes. Latynina won nine golds, five silvers and four bronzes from 1956-64. The 77-year-old gymnast was in the stands at the Aquatics Centre on Tuesday night and watched Phelps break her record, and she said she was happy for him. “I saw him swim, and I saw my record swim away,” Latynina told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “He’s very talented — no doubt about that.” Lochte called Phelps “one of the toughest racers and one of the best swimmers ever to live. It’s pretty awesome.” In the stands, Phelps’ mother, Debbie, and two sisters cheered his feat. Wearing his 19th medal during the victory stroll, Phelps stood on a plastic chair and reached up to take a small U.S. flag from them. With tears in her eyes, Debbie blew a kiss to her only son. Phelps’ night started out on a sour note in his signature event, one that is especially meaningful to his family since his sisters once swum it, too. He hadn’t lost the 200 fly at the Olympics or world championships since Sydney, when he finished fifth as an unknown 15-year-old. Phelps, after leading the entire race, tried to glide into the wall instead of taking one more stroke. Le Clos took that extra stroke and beat Phelps by five-hundredths of a second. “I was on the receiving end of getting touched out,” he said. “Chad swam a good race. I’ve gotten to know him a little over the last year. He’s a hard worker, he’s a tough competitor and he’s a racer.” Le Clos pounded the water when he saw the “1” beside his name. “He has always been an inspiration to me and a role model,” le Clos said. “I’ve watched all his races a million times and I’ve run the commentary over and over. Now, I guess I can watch my race.” Phelps hung on the lane rope and buried his face in his hands, disgusted with himself for having squandered what looked like a sure gold. Le Clos won South Africa’s second swimming gold of the games in a time of 1:52.96. Phelps finished in 1:53.01, while Japan’s Takeshi Matsuda took the bronze in 1:53.21. “It’s obviously my last one,” Phelps said. “I would have liked to win, but 1:53 flat isn’t a terrible time. When you look at the picture of it, it’s a decent time.” The legacy of his achievements is pretty decent, too. But the kid who always said he simply wanted to be the best Michael Phelps hopes someone else is out there dreaming as big as he did. “Nothing is untouchable,” he said.