Lance Armstrong Reveals How His Steroid Use Remained Undetected Despite Having Taken 500 Drug Tests

Disgraced champion cyclist Lance Armstrong revealed how he managed to avoid being caught doing drugs for years during his time as an athlete.

“Well, in a sense, you would foil the system, but what I always said – and I’m not trying to justify anything that I ever said as something I would want to repeat again – but one of the lines was, ‘I’ve been tested 500 times, I’ve never failed a drug test,'” he told comedian Bill Maher on his podcast.

“That’s not a lie. That is the truth. There was no way around the test. When I p—ed in the cup and they tested this p— in the cup, it passed,” Armstrong added. “Now, the reality and the truth of all of this is some of these substances, primarily the one that is the most beneficial, has a four-hour half-life.”

“So, certain substances, whether it be cannabis or anabolics [steroids] or whatever have much longer half-lives,” he continued. “You can smoke that joint and go to work, driving your tractor, or going to whatever in two weeks and test positive, because the half-life is much longer. With EPO [Erythropoietin], which was the rocket fuel that changed not just our sport but every endurance sport, you have a four-hour half-life. So, it leaves the body very quickly. And with a four-hour half-life, you can just do the math.”

“The truth is, you had a drug that was undetectable, that was wildly beneficial to performance and recovery,” Armstrong then emphasized when responding to Maher’s question if the drug was safe. “Both are important, but primarily to performance… And, as we were led to believe, which I don’t disagree with, if taken under the care of a doctor, was safe.”

In August 2022, Armstrong married Anna Hansen, whom he had been dating since 2008 and has two kids with.

In June, Armstrong received criticism on social media for seemingly lecturing people on Twitter for not questioning the fairness of trans-athletes in sports. He defended himself against this claim, saying that he wanted to bring all sides of this argument together to have a rational and open discussion.