Doping

NEW YORK — The fall of Lance Armstrong was as steep as the mountains he climbed en route to the Champs-Elysees and life as a global icon. He left a trail of destruction on the way up and on the way down.

The damage included the careers of teammates and support staff whom he verbally attacked or sued. Millions of dollars invested in cycling’s biggest star by corporate sponsors large and small are now gone. Armstrong’s Livestrong anti-cancer charity, whose yellow plastic donation bracelets were once ubiquitous, faces questions about whether it can retain support. Some former backers may have millions of dollars in legal bills as litigation over the sports fraud plays out.

NEW YORK — Oprah Winfrey’s much-anticipated interview with Lance Armstrong was seen by a total of 4.3 million viewers in back-to-back airings Thursday night on OWN.

But the interview with the disgraced cycling champion drew only 3.2 million viewers for its first airing, an audience that fell short of OWN’s most-watched program: an interview Winfrey conducted with the family of Whitney Houston last March following the singer’s death the previous month.

AUSTIN, Texas — Lance Armstrong confessed to Oprah Winfrey during an interview Monday that he used performance-enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the interview is to be broadcast Thursday on Winfrey’s network.

LOS ANGELES -- Lance Armstrong has agreed to an interview with Oprah Winfrey in which he is to address allegations he used performance-enhancing drugs during a career in which he won seven Tour de France titles.

BRANDS HATCH, England — World cycling’s governing body is considering an amnesty for riders and officials to confess to doping offenses, and says there is no plan to challenge the decision to strip Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Lance Armstrong is facing more doping allegations just a few months after he thought he had finally put them to rest.

Although federal investigators in February closed a two-year investigation without bringing criminal charges, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has filed new doping charges that could strip the seven-time Tour de France winner of his victories in cycling's premier race.

Armstrong insists he is innocent.

"I have never doped, and, unlike many of my accusers, I have competed as an endurance athlete for 25 years with no spike in performance, passed more than 500 drug tests and never failed one," Armstrong said in a statement. "Any fair consideration of these allegations has and will continue to vindicate me."

LONDON -- A record 6,250 doping tests will be carried out at the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, organizers said on Thursday at the unveiling of the Games' anti-doping laboratory.

The lab in Harlow, Essex, will see around 150 scientists examine the samples from the athletes, with the shortest turnover given at 24 hours. The whole anti-doping process will involve around 1,000 people, the organizing committee LOCOG said.