Lance Armstrong reveals his stepfather used to frequently beat him with fraternity paddle

While talking about his challenging upbringing in his documentary ‘Lance’, former professional cyclist Lance Armstrong revealed that he suffered a lot of abuse as a child. Lance Armstrong said that his stepfather, Terry Armstrong, who adopted him when he was three, was "terrible" to him. Lance Armstrong remembered the time he forgot to close a drawer and Terry punished him with a fraternity paddle.

"I would leave a drawer open, and he would pull out his fraternity paddle and just beat the f*** out of me," Armstrong said. "If I did that, my kids would be getting spanked every minute of every day! Like, who cares? f****** drawer's open," he added.

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In the Lance Armstrong documentary, Terry Armstrong agreed that he was tough on Lance, but, he defended himself saying that his parental style came from his military school background. "I was always there, always coaching him, always pushing him. But I didn't show him the love that I should have," said Terry Armstrong. Terry Armstrong believes that because of his parenting, Lance Armstrong was able to win so many tournaments. However, he accepts that he is one of the reasons behind Lance Armstrong’s downfall.

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Lance Armstrong documentary: Lance Armstrong talks about doping at the age of 21

Earlier, Lance Armstrong claimed that he began doping at the age of 21, the same year he became a professional. "Wow, straight to the point, probably 21," Armstrong replied when asked how old he was when he first doped as part of the ESPN documentary. Lance Armstrong added that he knew the consequences but still took the drugs. He claimed that they helped him ‘focus’.

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Armstrong dominated professional cycling in the 2000s and won the Tour de France seven years in a row from 1999 to 2005. He was later stripped of those titles and received a lifetime ban from the sport in 2012 after the US Anti-Doping Agency determined he was the key figure in a sophisticated doping programme on the US Postal Service team. In 2013, he confessed to doping, starting in 1996 on live television in an interview with chat show host Oprah Winfrey.

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