Lance Armstrong, wife to divorce

AP | 9/04/03

[kattracks]

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Five-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong and his wife have separated and will divorce.

Armstrong and his wife, Kristin, separated two weeks ago, soon after moving back to Austin from Girona, Spain. The couple is currently working on reaching a divorce settlement, while maintaining separate homes in Austin.

"The craziest thing is, we're closer now and better friends than ever before," Lance Armstrong said the Austin American-Statesman in Thursday's editions. "We're truly committed to maintaining a good relationship, but not a marriage."

Lance Armstrong overcame cancer on his way to five Tour wins. When he won his fifth straight Tour in July he tied the record held by Spain's Miguel Indurain.

"They tried, over the whole summer period, to reconcile," Jogi Muller, a spokesman for Armstrong's U.S. Postal Service team, told The Associated Press. "But somehow, now in the month after the Tour, it just didn't work out. They tried probably for the children, for themselves."

Muller said that the couple had originally planned to stay in Europe through mid-September, but decided to return home early.

The couple, who have been married for five years and have three children, announced in February that they had been separated for a month. They later reconciled.

[EternalVigilance]

Sad, as all divorces are.

Prayers for them and especially for their children.

[Dante3]

The statement that they are closer than ever and better friends is truly weird. I was pecting them to say they did it for the children.

[L.N. Smithee]

"The craziest thing is, we're closer now and better friends than ever before," Lance Armstrong said the Austin American-Statesman in Thursday's editions. "We're truly committed to maintaining a good relationship, but not a marriage."

My first instinct at seeing this quote is to laugh and comment on what ends up on the boots of many ranchers in Texas. But if Lance isn't just blowing smoke for publicity purposes, this means their marriage wasn't built on friendship in the first place, which is sad.

[jern]

Bizarre

[Guenevere]

#4...sounds to me he should have put more effort in his marriage instead of his cycling abilities.....

...how much worth is in gaining the acclaim of the world, and losing your family, children....

...divorce has more than an immediate impact on children.....it's something they struggle with decades to come.

I guess I don't get it.....he has the will & drive to overcome cancer....win races that take not only skill, but perseverance and endurance and planning....

...but fail to put the same effort & drive into saving his marriage.....!

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Sad, but you could see this one coming from a few stages away.

Especially when his wife started airing her complaints on his fan website.

[AppyPappy]

The statement that they are closer than ever and better friends is truly weird.

it makes him sound gay.

[bart99]

What kind of complaints did she air on his fan website?

This isn't stunning news to me. With the divorce rates what they are in this country, I'm sure they had their 'irreconcilable' differences. We'll never know the real reason. Blaming it on his extreme training is convenient, but perhaps too convenient. I don't think he's had tabloid-type stuff going on. Perhaps their marriage was meant to end in their eyes.

[Smocker]

You said it, will and drive, it all depends where you direct those efforts.

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

When I read in a SI article that Lance was a hard-core atheist and his wife a devout Catholic, I knew the marriage was doomed - clash of values and all that.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

What kind of complaints did she air on his fan website?

Sorry, I'd give you a link, but I only heard this on a local sports radio station report. Apparently she ran his website and suddenly started printing her feelings that he was too distant and that his schedule kept him away from the family too much.

Her complaints may have been valid, but publishing them on his website, if true, was a tad bizarre.

[kinghorse]

"The craziest thing is, we're closer now and better friends than ever before," Lance Armstrong said the Austin American-Statesman in Thursday's editions. "We're truly committed to maintaining a good relationship, but not a marriage."

Translated means:"French wimmen are ze bombay but those endorsements are nice and so help with keeping her living in a manner in which she is accustomed, therefore, we make nice for our adoring publik"

[CalvaryJohn]

Atheist loser.

[Rubber_Duckie_27]

She did indeed. My brother is an amateur cyclist and US Postal fan, so I periodically check the website. His wife's comments in her former column on lancearmstrong.com have been removed since before the Tour de France. She claimed that she shouldn't have posted such personal things on the internet. She hadn't written the column since last December anyways.

Essentially, she decided to give up her career for Lance's when they got married, and apparently she has changed her mind recently. She was not pleased about her and the kids living half the year in Europe and half the year in the US (so they could be with Lance while training in Europe).

This is surprising especially considering what they went through to have kids. They got together shortly after Lance went into remission, while he was still recovering from chemo...back when he wasn't a TdF winner, back when he was thinking of retiring from cycling all together.

He's a very wealthy man now...he's gonna get socked with alimony and child support. She is apparently from money herself, but I'm betting she gets more now...

[holdmuhbeer]

How can they be good friends and still want to divorce, this is bizarre.

[q_an_a]

His wife is the one that got him off his butt and back on his bike after cancer; my comment is comes form many articles and interviews from the past threee years.

What this shows is how easy it is for people to give up even when they have overcome adversity. The marriage vows are not taken seriously by too many people. If two people can tough out cancer they can change their actions to be of help to a mate. Saving a marriage is about not making the choice to quit, unless there is abuse.

I want to be happy is the problem not the solution. You are happy because you become mature in accepting life's changes. Too bad this is not a happy ending.

[50sDad]

My wife and I went through three years of counseling, and today are happier than we have ever been. It takes guts to hold on, and both sides have to want to work at it. But...

. "We're truly committed to maintaining a good relationship, but not a marriage."

...this is the bigest load of cow pie I have ever heard. This idiot should be clubbed to death with a baby seal.

[50sDad]

My wife and I went through three years of counseling, and today are happier than we have ever been. It takes guts to hold on, and both sides have to want to work at it. But...

. "We're truly committed to maintaining a good relationship, but not a marriage."

...this is the bigest load of cow pie I have ever heard. This idiot should be clubbed to death with a baby seal.

[L.N. Smithee]

The marriage vows are not taken seriously by too many people.

Indeed. If they were, we wouldn't be talking about gay marriage now.

People suggest that allowing people of the same sex to marry would destroy the institution. I say, gay marriage would only be the final stage of destruction of the institution that began with the concept of no-fault divorce.

To wit: Once marriage was easier to legally escape than a health-club membership, the differences between marriage and shacking up began to evaporate. Now that people with normal sexual inclinations can shack up and get almost all the benefits of marriage, gays can say, "Hey, we shack up too!"

[Rubber_Duckie_27]

Armstrong's wife has been quite bizarre at times. Not 2 months ago, she posted publicly that she was committed to "being a full time wife and mom - that is job one for me." So much for being a full time wife, Kristen.


If anyone's interested, "Kristen's Corner" is here:
http://www.lancearmstrong.com/lance/online2.nsf/Docs/D0056D18E71A9EBE86256D82003E294B

[xzins]

"The craziest thing is, we're closer now and better friends than ever before," Lance Armstrong said

This is proof that divorce law in our culture is what is broken. And the kids get to pay for this foolishness.

It's also proof that what they need is not a divorce, but a growing period, counseling, and a belief in a God who wants them to honor their commitment.

[truthandlife]

I know the source isn't too good but this is from the Star Magazine in April.

http://www.starmagazine.com/stories/feature.cfm?instanceid=57766

LANCE ARMSTRONG PEDALS BACK TO WIFE (LANCE CHEATED)

CYCLING legend Lance Armstrong has begged his wife Kristin to forgive him for cheating on her with another woman, say sources.

And after a romantic rendezvous in Paris, the couple and their three children are now living together again at their home in Spain.

"Lance's friends, family and managers all told him he had to get rid of his mistress and focus on rebuilding his marriage," says a source.

Star broke the story that the four-time Tour de France winner coldly dumped his wife of five years and sources say it was for a 28-year-old mistress in San Francisco.

Armstrong then jetted to Spain to train for July's Tour de France.

Kristin, 31, stayed home with their son Luke, 3, and twins Grace and Isabelle, 1.

"She was devastated," says a family member.

But insiders reveal that Lance soon had a change of heart. "After breaking off with his mistress, Lance called Kristin and begged her to bring the children and meet him in Paris," a source confides.

"He said: 'Kik, I've been a jerk. I need you all. I can't be a champion without you.'

"Kristin was hesitant, but she agreed.

"Lance has vowed to be faithful, and she's going to do whatever it takes to restore their family."

Published on: April 23, 2003

[truthandlife]

There is two sides to every story. Look at #23

[meg70]

I heard Lance took Kristin out on a vacation to San Diego, California (one of his wifes favorite spots) and told her that he was now in love with this 28 year old from San Francisco.

[truthandlife]

Star Magazine (August 13, 2003)
http://www.starmagazine.com/stories/feature.cfm?instanceid=58951

LANCE ARMSTRONG: HOW HE'LL SAVE HIS MARRIAGE

The champion cyclist fights to keep his wife & kids


LANCE ARMSTRONG
CYCLING hero Lance Armstrong won his fifth Tour de France. But now he faces a bigger challenge -- winning back the love and trust of his wife of five years.

As Star revealed earlier this year, Lance, 31, left Kristin, 32, the mother of their three kids, in February, telling her that he was in love with a 28-year-old woman from San Francisco.

Although devastated, Kristin didn't give up on Lance. In April, they reconciled, but the healing is taking time.

"We're doing OK," Armstong says. "The kids are happy and healthy, and we're doing fine. Sometimes people do things that aren't right. We want to keep this together."

After his record-tying victory in France last month, Lance and his family retired to their castle-like home in Girona, Spain, for a much-needed rest.

The couple also began counseling, says an insider. Lance is determined to be there for his children. "Fatherhood is what it's all about," he says.

A ROUGH RIDE

Lance's life went off track on Valentine's Day 2003. According to a family insider, in February Lance took Kristin for what she thought was going to be a second honeymoon in Santa Barbara, Calif., where they were married in 1998. "But it wasn't the romantic weekend she expected. He invited her for a walk on the beach and then he told her he'd met someone else," the insider tells Star. "Kristin crumpled."

"She had devoted her life to Lance and their kids and she'd helped him through his battle with testicular cancer." In 1996, he had a cancerous testicle removed. After four rounds of grueling chemotherapy he was "cured" in October 2001.

Kristin's love for Lance also compelled her to endure in vitro fertilization to conceive Lance's children with sperm he had banked.

BACKPEDALING

"It was their families who finally pushed Lance and Kristin back together. Both of their parents wanted them to work things out, and they began counseling," says an insider. "And Kristin, with three small children, decided that she would be the bigger person and forgive Lance."

[texasbluebell]

When I read in a SI article that Lance was a hard-core atheist...

And yet he wears a cross around his neck.

I think it's just a matter of his own family history. His father deserted Lance and his mother when Lance was only 2, Lance refuses to acknowledge the man, and calls him only "the DNA donor".

I'm really not surprised--children who come from such a situation very likely are going to repeat it.

[meg70]

I think Lance is neutral on the subject of releigion healing his cancer in general, according to the things he had said in talks to cancer survivor groups.

He says if it helps you fine, rely on prayer and alternative medicine..but otherwise stay on the doctors program

[VOA]

What this shows is how easy it is for people to give up even when they have overcome adversity.

I think there is an old song (by Merle Haggard?) with the basic sentiment of
"someday, when things are good, I'm going to leave you".

[Choose Ye This Day]

...how much worth is in gaining the acclaim of the world, and losing your family, children....

"No success can compensate for failure in the home."

[jern]

I missed, that what did she say exactly.

[Choose Ye This Day]

Unless it's Spidey or Superman.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

See posts #12 & #15.

[RoughDobermann]

Atheist loser

Uninformed idiot...

[anniegetyourgun]

It is a huge cowpie he laid on thick for this interview. So sad for the three children. Love is a choice and Lance and wife have decided not to love - each other, and indirectly, their children. But hey, we are so 50's, eh?

[rs79bm]

I sum it up this way: Lance was cycling around all day and his wife couldn't keep up.

I still consider Lance a true American Hero.

[Porterville]

That's right, it is hard to have a partner that doesn't keep up.

[freebilly]

When I read in a SI article that Lance was a hard-core atheist and his wife a devout Catholic, I knew the marriage was doomed - clash of values and all that.

I read his autobiography and he has no relationship with his biological father or his stepfather (whom he actively detests). His stepfather was a Christian who cheated on Lance's mother, so Lance feels justified in seeing "organized religion" as the haven for hypocrites.

Very sad. He's a driven man, sometimes, it seems, by personal demons.

[RetiredArmy]

I love Lance. He has inspired me to ride my bike every day for my health and for fun. I ride 20 plus miles every day. When I am tired, I think of what he over came and that keeps me spinning the peddles. I wish him and his wife the best of luck and hope they truly indeed stay friends and work for the sake of their three little children. He is a nice fellow and I am sure his wife is a wonderful woman also. Fame sometimes puts a strain on peoples lives. It probably hurt here. This issues is also probably some of the reasons he struggled in this year's Tour de Freedom!

[glory]

Amen to that. My husband and I are at the 7-8 year mark in our marriage with two children 5 and 3 and I think we are in that adjustment period since some days I feel like throwing in the towel and others I don't know what I'd do without my husband. We are both hanging in there, but there are growing pains as we face finding out what kind of developmental problem our 3 yr old son has.

[Between the Lines]

I sum it up this way: Lance was cycling around all day and his wife couldn't keep up.

Instead of his wife not being able to keep up, a more probable scenario would be that Lance couldn’t get it up. I realize that this sounds crude and insensitive, but Armstrong did have testicular cancer and although we know he has been cured, we do not know what type of treatment was used or how extreme this treatment may have been. Couple that with an increased rate of erectile dysfunction among bicyclists that practice extreme training (Erectile Dysfunction and Bicycling)and this does seem probable. It also goes a long way in explaining his remarks, "We're closer now and better friends than ever before," and, ""We're truly committed to maintaining a good relationship, but not a marriage" since some marital obligations could no longer be preformed.

[GreatOne]

As someone who does divorces, I am always amazed at how I can get a couple to jointly come into my office and act like the best of friends, having all of their issues resolved, even regarding custody. I always ask them if they have tried counseling, but it is one of those "fallen out of love" b.s. stories. But the Armstrong's problems are probably something that has developed and festered for a period of years. For every day/month/year you let a problem fester and corrupt a marriage, it takes that long to work things out. A lot of people just don't want to put in the effort.

My wife's family dragged me to a Gothard Institute seminar a few years ago, pre-marriage. I kind of thought it was a joke, but one thing I took from it and still do every day is this: Every day, look into the mirror and say, "I love my wife" (or husband, as it may be). Do that when you're mad, do it after sex, do it when you come home from work. I think that it really works, and would advise it to all.

[Diddle E. Squat]

"Will and Race"?

[Between the Lines]

For every day/month/year you let a problem fester and corrupt a marriage, it takes that long to work things out. A lot of people just don't want to put in the effort.

Every day, look into the mirror and say, "I love my wife" (or husband, as it may be). Do that when you're mad, do it after sex, do it when you come home from work. I think that it really works, and would advise it to all.

Thanks for posting this.

[utahagen]

I wish it were bizarre, but I hear this from people I know all the time: "We're really good friends; we just don't want to be married anymore." People have lost all sense of the obligation to society to remain married. When people get divorced, it sets a bad example for young people. (Perhaps I sound like an old fogey, but I'm actually only in my thirties.)

[jern]

I just like how everyone on this thread is a marriage expert, and has such great knowledge of the Armstrong's relationship.

[Brian Allen]

<< ...but fail to put the same effort & drive into saving his marriage.....! >>

Mr Armstrong is not a quitter.

He tried -- she quit!?

Dumb broad has no concept of the value of a covenant before God. Pretty typical of modern American wymyn.

[Next?]

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

Ahh, makes sense to me now. Definitely a driven man.