Lance Armstrong

None of his accusers have produced evidence to substantiate the rumors. Jennings broke almost every game show record in his run. [2] (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2005/jun05/jun01news). Oddly, however, during the 74th game, which aired on Monday, November 29, Gilbert resumed announcing the number of games. In 2005, Italian police are investigating Armstrong for "private violence" and intimidating a witness as a result of this incident. To make it more difficult for viewers to keep track of Ken's progress towards his final episode, in early September 2004 the show's announcer, Johnny Gilbert, ceased mentioning the number of games that Jennings had won, as had been the show's custom. However, some people in the studio audience reported that he was still announcing them, possibly meaning those parts had been edited out of the airing. Armstrong's tactic was controversial, with some commentators considering it vindictive. Others viewed it as a demonstration by Armstrong that he did not need drugs to be a superior rider to Simeoni. The reasoning behind the early airing was reportedly due to a technician running the wrong tape.

The breakaway went on to take the stage. In an interesting turn of events, the 75th episode was aired early in the Macon, Georgia area (on WMAZ-TV, see here (http://www.freep.com/entertainment/tvandradio/tv1e_20041201.htm)) on Friday, November 26, 2004. It was apparent that the peloton would chase down a breakaway which included Armstrong, so Simeoni was persuaded to leave it - with Armstong. Later on, it was determined that Ken Jennings did indeed lose as initially reported with the failing episode shown in most cities across North America on Tuesday, November 30, 2004. He told the members of the breakaway that he would be staying with them if Simeoni was present. Despite this, Jeopardy! refused to comment. Armstrong, however, single-handedly chased them down. A few days later, another rumor spread giving out an incorrect first name of the contestant that had beat him.

As there was nobody in the breakaway that threatened in the general classification, the group stood a good chance of staying in front until the finish line. (Jeopardy! tapes five shows per day.) This incident was reported by TV Week and the Associated Press, appearing in hundreds of newspapers across the United States. In stage 18 Simeoni was in a group that had broken away from the main peloton. In a rumor (http://www.kottke.org/04/09/some-ken-jennings-news) disclosed on Wednesday, September 8, 2004, two sources who were at the taping on September 7, 2004 reported that Jennings had lost on his 75th episode, taped the day before, with total winnings at around $2.5 million. During the 2004 Tour, the Armstrong-Simeoni feud manifested its presence during the race itself [1] (http://www.velonews.com/tour2004/details/articles/6647.0.html). Jennings' adjusted total of $37,500 puts him ahead of that mark. Armstrong stated that Simeoni was not telling the truth, calling him "a compulsive liar", and a legal process started between the two. Four contestants finished with scores of $30,000 or higher in the pre-doubling era, led by Jerome Vered's score of $34,000.

Ferrari. Jennings's top score of $75,000 is the highest ever, even if it is adjusted for the seasons before the clue values were doubled. Ferrari did not go beyond occasional consultations on altitude training and diet. Another racer, Italian Filippo Simeoni, implicated Armstrong when confessing to the use of illegal drugs prescribed by Dr. Jennings has reached the $50,000 mark eleven times, with wins of $75,000, $55,099, $52,000 (three times), and $50,000 (six times). Michele Ferrari, who in 2004 was found guilty in an Italian court for unlawful distribution of medicines and sporting fraud. Armstrong has stated that his connection to Dr. Myron Meyer won $50,000 on September 5, 2002, and Brian Weikle won $52,000 on April 14, 2003. Particularly vocal have been Greg LeMond, the only other American to have won the Tour, and the French newspaper Le Monde, who have questioned his association with doctor/trainer, Dr. Prior to Jennings's run, the $50,000 mark had only been reached twice before.

In 1999 he tested positive for a corticoid, and although he did not declare taking the medication on the form before the test, the UCI accepted it was in his system due to his use of a legal skin cream to treat road rash and saddle sores. Jennings now also holds most of the top spots in the list of highest single day winnings on Jeopardy!. When training, Lance boosts his red blood cell count through cycling at altitude and sleeping in an altitude tent. If winnings are further adjusted to make them comparable to the seasons before the clue values were doubled, Jennings's adjusted total of $78,000 would place him 11th in the Trebek era of Jeopardy!, behind Frank Spangenberg ($102,597) and nine others. Specifically, his hematocrit rate was never found to exceed the threshold above what suggests that the racer used the drug EPO, which was once rife throughout cycling (though Armstrong did take EPO for one of its approved medical uses, to help his recovery during cancer treatment, there is no suggestion that this was an unfair advantage for his subsequent cycling achievements). No other Jeopardy! contestant has won more than $150,000 in non-tournament play in the first five days. However, despite being subjected to dozens of drug tests, he has never proved positive to any illicit substance. The previous record holder, Tom Walsh, won $184,900 in seven days, but only $118,100 of that came in the first five days.

Like many top international sports men and women, Armstrong has long been dogged by allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs. Sean Ryan was the first to break the record, winning six games in October 2003. Postal Team competes in races worldwide, the riders selected to join Armstrong in the Tour de France are there specifically to help Armstrong win the Yellow Jersey. Jennings won US$156,000 in his first five days on Jeopardy!, so if the five-day rule had not been eliminated, he would still be the all-time non-tournament winner in Jeopardy! history. While the U.S. Comprehensive game summaries for each day of Ken Jennings' streak have been compiled here. Some have attributed Armstrong's success in recent years in part to his US Postal Service cycling team (now the Discovery Channel Team). With three consecutive losses in the Ultimate Tournament of Champions in addition to the loss in his previous Jeopardy appearance, Jennings has now lost four episodes in a row.

Despite this relatively defensive strategy, Armstrong's mountain attacks are so forceful that he often puts minutes on his rivals over the course of just a few kilometers. Jennings also holds the record for the number of consecutive losses on Jeopardy. In the mold of Induráin, Armstrong is not very aggressive during the most of the Tour, preferring to gain a lead in the time trials or with a few well-placed mountain attacks, before sitting back and letting his team defend the lead. Jennings' current total of US$3,022,700 could be increased to US$3,272,700 if he wins the next Tournament of Champions for the season in which his streak ended, thus retaking the title of highest total winnings on Jeopardy or any other game show. Unlike most gifted climbers, however, Armstrong is also exceptional in the individual time trial, and is as good as, if not better than, those physically more suited to the discipline, such as rival Jan Ullrich.
The following records, having been set by Ken Jennings, have now been broken by others:. Much of his training is based on raising this level, and in learning exactly where the limit is. Jennings bested 149 opponents during his tenure.

The ability to maintain this high cadence for such long distances is based on his extremely high anaerobic threshold, allowing him to work at a high intensity without building up lactic acid levels that force lesser athletes to back off. ** In 100%, Lygo faced two opponents per game. Armstrong can maintain incredible speeds even when going up the most daunting climbs of the Tour and at times even specialist climbers are unable to keep pace with him on a consistent basis. * Lygo was forced to retire by producer RTL Group. As an example, the Spanish five-time Tour de France winner, Miguel Induráin, preferred to power a huge gear at a low cadence. Three game show records remained that Jennings did not tie or break:. Pedalling very quickly (a high "cadence"), often in a lower gear than his competitors, he can maintain a cadence of 120 cycles per minute on flats during time trials, and is able to rapidly accelerate away from his main rivals who tend to use higher gears but pedal more slowly while riding uphill. He also tied the following records:.

His riding style is also distinctive. During his streak, Jennings broke the following records:. For example, during his preparation for the 2004 Tour, he rode virtually every stage at least once, and rode the Alpe d'Huez climb, site of a key time trial, multiple times in the course of five days. During his Jeopardy! appearances, Jennings became known for several quirky behaviors:. Lance has triumphed partly because he has made a career of the Tour de France, training in Spain for the year leading up to the Tour, and making frequent trips to France to fully analyze and ride key parts of the upcoming Tour course. Harry Friedman, Executive Producer of the show, said in the release, "The 2003 rule change, which allows Jeopardy! players to keep playing until they're defeated, raised the question about how other five-time champions might have played under this rule. This tournament is an opportunity to give those past champions another chance to shine." On May 25, Ken Jennings finished second in the Ultimate Tournament of Champions, winning half a million dollars but has been replaced as the number one overall winner of money on a gameshow by Brad Rutter, the two million dollar winner of the Ultimate Tournament of Champions. For relaxation, Armstrong also enjoys mountain biking and trout fishing, and casual rides on his bike with his son. The three-day finals concluded the event on May 23, May 24, and May 25.

As of September 2004, Armstrong had been in a relationship with singer Sheryl Crow for about a year (source: The Tonight Show appearance September 1). The tournament was taped in early 2005 and the tournament began airing on February 9. Armstrong and his wife Kristin (Kik - pronounced Keek) had a son shortly after his amazing comeback victory, and twin girls two years later, all by in vitro fertilization, or IVF. Armstrong and his wife divorced in 2003. Guaranteed prize money will be offered to all contestants. He won the final individual time trial (ITT), stage 19, to complete his personal-record of stage wins. The Ultimate Tournament of Champions offered a substantial purse, with a grand prize of $2,000,000 to the winner, $500,000 for second, and $250,000 for third. For the first time Armstrong also found himself unable to ride away from his rivals in the mountains (except for the individual time trial in stage 16 up L'Alpe d'Huez when he started two minutes behind Basso and passed him up) and won in sprint finishes in stages 13 and 15 versus Basso and made up a huge gap in the last 250 meters to nip Andreas Klöden at the line in stage 17. This equaled a total of 145 players, including Jennings.

After that he seized the reins by outsprinting Basso to take the very next stage, and followed that up by becoming the first man since Gino Bartali in 1948 to win three consecutive mountain stages—15, 16, and 17. It featured Tournament of Champions Champions, College Championship, and Teen Tournament winners from the show's 21-year run, as well as over 100 undefeated five-time champions. He contends he let his friend Ivan Basso win Stage 12 at the finish line as his way of offering support for Basso's mother's struggle with cancer, though video footage appears to show Armstrong being beaten fairly. On December 28, 2004, Sony sent out press release announcing their 15-week, 75-show, Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions. Postal Service "Blue Train". Work on the series will begin summer 2005 with a launch date set for late 2005 or 1st qtr 2006. In his most recent Tour victory (2004), Armstrong won with a personal-best 5 stages, plus the team time trial (TTT) with his U.S. According to Comedy Central execs, Jennings would co-host and participate but would not elaborate any further on the show’s format.

His final lead times over his closest competitor have been over six minutes every year except for 2003, when he finished 1:01 ahead of Jan Ullrich, following an unusual set of circumstances including a stomach illness at the outset of the race. According to Variety.com (‘Trivia titan gets series’, 5/23/05) Ken Jennings and Michael Davies (Who Wants to be a Millionaire & Win Ben Stein's Money) are teaming up as executive producers on a new game show format for Comedy Central. Lance's true comeback came in 1999, when he won his first Tour de France. Combined with a ten percent tithe, this would leave him approximately $1,230,430 to use for other purposes. He was eventually signed by the newly formed United States Postal Service Pro Cycling Team, and by 1998, he was able to make his successful return in the cycling world marked by his fourth place overall finish in the Vuelta a España. H&R Block senior vice president David Byers estimated that Jennings would owe approximately $1.04 million in taxes on his winnings. This was one of the factors which lead to his near retirement from the sport, because of which he and his then-girlfriend (now ex-wife) moved to France on two different occasions due to his changes of heart. Taking advantage of its fame over the crucial clue, H&R Block offered Jennings free financial services for the rest of his life.

While in remission he resumed training, but found himself unceremoniously, if unsurprisingly, dropped by his Cofidis team. Jeopardy! contestants typically receive their winnings approximately 120 days after their last game airs in the form of a check. The standard chemotherapy for his cancer would have meant the end of his cycling career, because a known side effect was a dramatic reduction in lung function; he opted for a more severe treatment that was less likely to result in lung damage. When asked what he intended to do with his winnings, Jennings said that he intends to tithe ten percent to his church, donate to public television and National Public Radio, go on a trip to Europe, and invest the rest for his family. Armstrong managed to recover after invasive surgery to remove brain lesions, and a severe course of chemotherapy, performed at Indiana University School of Medicine. On May 24th, 2005, Comedy Central announced that Jennings would be the host of a new comedic quiz show to replace the cancelled Chappelle's Show". After his recovery, one of his doctors told him that his actual odds of survival were considerably smaller (one even went as far as to say 3%), and that he had been given the 50 percent estimate primarily to give him hope. A&E aired on December 1, 2004 an episode of the Biography television program on Jennings and other Jeopardy! notables, including Frank Spangenberg and Eddie Timanus.

His doctors told him that he had a fifty-percent chance of survival. TV Guide featured a segment of "The Top Ten TV Moments of 2004," in which Ken Jennings' loss placed third. In October of 1996, Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer that had metastasized, spreading to his lungs and brain. While on his media tour following his final game, Jennings taped a segment for a future episode of Sesame Street. Team Motorola was allowed to take an uncontested next stage as a mark of respect. Barbara Walters selected Jennings as one of the "Ten Most Fascinating People of 2004" for her twelfth annual ABC News special, which aired on December 8, 2004. As a young and hugely promising cyclist this was a blow for the team, the sport, and Fabio's nation, Italy. news programming and on Nightline.

During his time with Motorola, Fabio Casartelli, a teammate, died on a descent in the Tour. Jennings appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman to present Letterman's "Top Ten List." He appeared again on the program on the night his final show was televised, in addition to interview segments airing that night on local 11 p.m. These early disappointments spurred him on to the great things he has achieved post-cancer, and he admits that had he given in on the devilishly difficult Clasica san Sebastian he could have retired from the sport.. it's not like Millionaire.". Later in 1996, however, he abandoned the Tour de France and had a disappointing Olympic Games. During that guest appearance, Jennings said that, "Jeopardy! is a man's game .. He won the Tour DuPont again in 1996, and was ranked number one cyclist in the world. There Jennings revealed that he had failed to qualify for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, also hosted by Regis Philbin.

cycling event, the Tour DuPont, having placed second in 1994. After his 31st win on Jeopardy!, during the summer break between tapings, Jennings made a guest appearance on Live with Regis and Kelly. In that same year, he won the premier U.S. Jennings has received a good deal of American media coverage. His successes continued with Team Motorola, with whom he won a stage in the 1995 Tour de France and several classic one-day events. Jeopardy! ratings went up 62 percent during his run on the show (11.1 million viewers was a ten-year high); for three weeks in July 2004 and for most of the latter part of Jennings's run, it surpassed traditional leader Wheel of Fortune to become television's highest-rated syndicated program. Minutes later, the King invited both. Jennings's winning streak on Jeopardy! has made him something of a celebrity.

His victory was so dominant (he had time to blow kisses to his mother in the home straight) that he was invited to an audience with the King of Norway, which he initially turned down after finding his mother was not included in the invitation. On December 1, the show broke with tradition by having Jennings make a "guest appearance" at the start of the broadcast, during which host Alex Trebek acknowledged his success and enumerated the various game show records he'd broken. The following year he scored his first major victory as he rode solo to win the World Road Championships in Oslo, Norway. Along the way, Jennings defeated at least three contestants who are current quiz bowl players; in fact, according to a Washington Post article, at least one fellow NAQT employee was selected to appear on the show during Jennings' run (but, as someone with more than a casual acquaintance with Jennings, could not compete against him because of standards and practices rules). After competing as a cycling amateur, winning the US amateur championship in 1991 and finishing 14th in the 1992 Olympics road race, Armstrong turned professional in 1992. Zerg was defeated the following day, finishing in third place with $2, while Jennings' running time period totaled 182 calendar days, including his first and last appearances. He graduated from another high school in Dallas the following spring. Lance still harbors resentment toward Plano because of this and prefers his adopted home of Austin, Texas. Most who saw the show would say this assessment was in keeping with his genial personality, since Zerg never appeared to be a serious contender until Jennings stumbled in the second half.

Armstrong withdrew from his high school, Plano East Senior High, with his mother's blessing and went to train with the team. Jennings reported in an interview that the loss was "no fluke" and that Zerg was a formidable opponent. Plano Independent School District's school board said that the six-week leave to train taken during the second semester of his senior year would bar him from graduating. Immediately after she won, Alex Trebek dubbed her a "giant-killer" for her accomplishment of finally beating the long-standing champ. At 17, Lance received an invitation to train with the Junior National Cycling Team. Zerg answered correctly, and she and Jennings shook hands and hugged as the audience gave the two of them a standing ovation. It soon became clear that his greatest talent lay in racing bikes. Jennings's final total, along with his second-place money, was $2,522,700.

Lance began his sporting career as a triathlete, competing in seniors' competitions from the age of 16. The Final Jeopardy category was "Business and Industry"; the clue was: "Most of this firm's 70,000 seasonal white-collar employees work only four months a year." The correct response was: "What is H&R Block?"; Jennings responded with "what is FedEx?". Armstrong received his surname at the age of three, when his mother married Terry Armstrong. But Jennings proved to be his own worst enemy by 'missing' both Double Jeopardy! Daily Double questions (on which he had placed his usual high wagers) and the Final Jeopardy! question. Armstrong was born in Plano, Texas and was raised by his mother, Linda Mooneyham, whose spirit and independence has often been cited by Armstrong as his greatest influence. The third contestant, David Hankins, completed the Double Jeopardy round with a negative amount and was not allowed to participate in Final Jeopardy.
. On November 30, 2004, Jennings' long reign as Jeopardy! champion finally came to an end when he lost his 75th game to challenger Nancy Zerg, who initially did not appear to be a threat to the champion.

In April 2005, Armstrong announced that he would retire from racing after the 2005 edition of the Tour. In theory, if Jennings had remained undefeated though the 2005-2006 season, there wouldn’t be a tournament of Champions for that season, because Jennings would be the sole champion. He was also named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for 2002, 2003 and 2004, received ESPN's ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete in 2003 and 2004, and won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality Award in 2003. Since he did not lose before the 2004 Tournament was taped (which then aired from September 20 through October 1), he will have to wait until the 2005-06 season to compete in the Tournament of Champions. In 2002, Sports Illustrated magazine named him their Sportsman of the Year. Jennings's run began with the episode aired on Monday, June 2, 2004, and spanned two seasons. Armstrong's achievements have been widely lauded. After this rule change, and until Jennings' run, the record winning streak was set by Tom Walsh, who won $186,900 ($184,900 in his winning episodes) in eight games in January 2004.

His success prompted some to nickname the event Tour de Lance. At the beginning of the show's 20th season (in 2003), the rules were changed to allow contestants to remain on the show as long as they continued to win. He is most famous for recovering from cancer to subsequently win the Tour de France a record six consecutive times—1999 to 2004. Prior to 2003, Jeopardy! contestants were limited to five consecutive games. Lance Armstrong (born September 18, 1971) is an American cyclist from Texas. He and his wife Mindy have a son named Dylan. Linda Armstrong Kelly, Joni Rodgers: No Mountain High Enough : Raising Lance, Raising Me (ISBN 076791855X), Broadway Books 2005. Armstrong's mother's account of raising a world class athlete and overcoming adversity. He was a software engineer for CHG, a healthcare-placement firm.

Stage 4 Volta ao Algrave (ITT). Jennings graduated with a degree in computer science and English at Brigham Young University, where he played on the school's quiz bowl team for three years. He completed an International Baccalaureate diploma at Seoul Foreign School, and achieved honors at both Brigham Young and the University of Washington. Stage 5 Tour du Languedoc-Roussillon. He watched Jeopardy! on the American Forces Network television while growing up. Tour de Georgia (2 stage victories). Born in Edmonds, Washington, Jennings grew up in Seoul, South Korea (1981–1992) and Singapore (1992–1996), where his father worked for an international law firm and then as Asia Pacific Division Counsel of Oracle Corporation. Tour de France (5 stage victories + Team Time Trial). Jennings held the record for most winnings on any game show ever played until the end of the Ultimate Tournament of Champions on May 25, 2005, when he was displaced by Brad Rutter.

Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (Overall), Stage 3 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (ITT). His total winnings on Jeopardy! are $3,022,700 ($2,520,700 during his original run, and $500,000 in the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions). Tour de France (1 stage victory + Team Time Trial). 74 games before he was defeated by Nancy Zerg on his 75th appearance. GP du Midi-Libre. He will often say "What's...?" instead of "What is...?". Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, Stage 6 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré. When guessing, he would phrase his responses in such a way as to make it clear he was in doubt of the answer himself, and openly expressed surprise when he gave the correct response.

Tour de France (4 stage victories). He often shook his head in disbelief when his total cash winnings were announced at the start of each episode/game. Tour de Suisse (2 stage victories). Jennings has only made three other attempts to break Weikle's $52,000 record (in his 30th, 39th, and 65th games), but incorrect Final Jeopardy! responses prevented him from succeeding. Tour de France (4 stage victories). On his 71st game, he broke the record a second time with a win of $55,099. Stage 3 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (ITT). However, in his 38th game, Jennings entered Final Jeopardy with a total only $600 shy of the record (and, in fact, had exceeded the record in the Double Jeopardy round before missing a question at the end), and beat it with a final total of $75,000.

GP Eddy Merckx. Prior to his 30th game, Jennings did not want to beat the $52,000 single-day record of former five-day champion Brian Weikle just "for the sake of beating it" (from the Jeopardy! forums). He intentionally tied his record three times. GP des Nations. Host Alex Trebek commented on this several times, and he even occasionally guessed what wager Jennings would make. Tour de France (1 stage victory). On Final Jeopardy and the Daily Doubles he almost always wagered an amount that could bring his total to a multiple of $5,000 or $1,000. Stage 4 Circuit de la Sarthe (ITT). He often pronounced foreign words, phrases, or locations with an accent.

Stage 4 Route du Sud. Also, he supposedly keeps a little piece of a fan's "popo" (pillow) in his coat pocket. Prologue Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (ITT). He kept a plush "Totoro" toy, from the movie My Neighbor Totoro in his pocket, as a good luck charm. Tour de France (4 stage victories). Each day he wrote his name in a different way, with styles ranging from simple (such as cursive script or block letters) to artistic (such as dots or a bas relief outline). Cascade Classic.

Tour de Luxembourg (1 stage victory). Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt. La Flèche Wallonne. Tour du Pont (5 stage wins).

Stage 5 Paris Nice. West Virginia Classic (1 stage win). Tour du Pont (3 stage wins). 18th stage of the Tour de France.

Clasica San Sebastian. Thrift Drug Classic. World Road Championships. West Virginia Classic (2 stage wins).

USPro Championship. 8th stage of the Tour de France. Trofeo Laigueglia. Thrift Drug Classic.

Tour de Ribera (4 stage wins). Thrift Drug Classic. Longsjo Classic (1 stage win). GP Sanson.

First Union Grand Prix. 2005: Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team. 2003-2004: US Postal Service presented by Berry Floor. 1998-2002: US Postal Service.

1997: Cofidis. 1992-1996: Motorola. 1991-1992: United States National Team.