Irish radio station carried an interview with David Walsh today
about LA Confidential : here is the detail.
Matt Cooper the host of the show introduced DW.
MC and DW worked together at the Sunday Tribune newspaper here in Ireland in the early 1990's.
MC :
"And now we're joined by the finest sports journalist that this country has ever produced - David Walsh of the ST"
MC "David, you have written a book called LA Confidential about the TDF cyclist Lance Armstrong - could you tell us about it ?"
DW "yes, it's a book about the recovery of LA and cycling
performances of LA and how he used performance
enhancing drugs."
MC "maybe you'll set out the circumstances of the book - isn't it true to say that this book has caused some controversy ?"
DW "Myself and Pierre have been involved with covering cycling since the 1980's and we have followed the sport closely and after
1998, we began to realise that the sport was totally corrupt"
MC "Let me interrupt you there because on this program in 1998,
I put these issues to you and you defended the sport - are you now saying that the scales have been lifted from your eyes".
DW "Yes, I believed that the level of corruption in the sport
was not as widespread as the Festina scandal appeared to be -
and when the Festina scandal was exposed, I felt that the
journalist media had an obligation to expose cheats.
You've got to remember that 1998 almost saw the destruction of the TDF : in 1999 LA comes along and the Festina scandal is replaced by the media coverage of LA and his cancer story"
MC "OK, can you give the listeners some background here, David"
DW "Yes, LA was a cyclist who debuted in the early 1990's and was a great one day cyclist - youngest R/R champion - great
one bike racer.
In 1996, he was diagnosed with cancer and underwent 2 years
of treatment.
I interviewed Lance in 1993 and found him to be a thoroughly
engaging figure for a book that I was writing at the time.
I did a 3.5 hour interview with him for a book that I was writing at the time and wrote a piece about him - approx 7000 words"
MC "So it is fair to say that you were on good terms with LA ?"
DW "Yes, I found him very nice and pleasant. Anyway he came back to the TDF in 1999 and not only managed to win the TDF -
which was a miracle considering what he had been through - he also thoroughly dominated the race.
And it was then that my suspicions were aroused.
Matt, you've got to remember, at that time, we had a TDF on it's
knees following the biggest scandal in sport and here comes this
feelgood story.
I just found it very co-incidental that, just when the TDF was being exposed, that this feelgood story swept away the drugs
controversy of Festina"
MC "But what proof do you have that LA was using performance enhancing drugs to win the TDF ?"
DW "We have the testimony of people who worked closely with
LA.
If I could place in order of importance the people we spoke to :
Emma O'Reilly, masseuse to the USPS team 1996-2000 and chief
soigneur to LA in 1999/2000.
Stephen Swart"
MC " and these people have told you that LA was using perfromance enhancing drugs ?"
DW "Indeed, they have. Each person interviewed for the book has
given explicit details of what they saw going on within LA's team
and what LA was also doing.
In each case, these testimonies involve names, times and places
where they have recounted the use of performance enhancing drugs by LA".
MC " Did you put these allegations to LA before you published ?"
DW " We did for approximately one month before deciding to publish, we contacted LA's legal people.
We requested an interview with LA but his people refused.
Bill Stapleton - his manager - contacted us and asked us to put in writing the questions that we wanted LA to answer.
We summarised our concerns in to 8 questions and sent them to
Bill Stapleton.
We then repeatedly contacted Stapleton to see if LA would answer these questions in person.
They fobbed us off - they said they would meet with us but any time we asked for a time slot with LA, we were refused.
We then informed LA's people that we intended to publish our evidence in the absence of a response from LA.
LA's people issued legal threats to us."
MC "OK, tell us how you managed to get the book published ?"
"Well we brought our book to eight British publishers who were very eager to print this book.
However in each case, the legal people at the 8 published adviced that because of the stringent libel laws in the UK and Ireland, they could not publish this book and they refused to deal with us.
I did not wish to put my employer in an invidious position either.
(Sunday Times).
Pierre and myself went to paris and the first publisher we met was willing to publish because the libel laws in France are not as
draconian."
MC "So the book cannot be published in UK and Ireland but is
published in France ?"
DW "Yes but LA has also taken an action in France to stop it being published as well"
MC "This sounds like an interesting book and the people mentioned in it are prepared to back up their accounts ?"
DW "Indeed they are. I've got to say that they are all very brave people - Emma O'Reilly, Betsy Andreu, Greg and Kathy LeMond
and all eight people whose testimonies are in the book.
Each of them is willing to stand up in a court of law in France, if required to oppose the LA suit
These people are not afraid to get in to a witness box in France and to tell their story.
Unfortunately, we could not risk printed this book in the UK or Ireland because the libel laws are against free speech and to subject this people to this in this jurisdiction would be unfair.
But, yes, they are all willing to testify in France"
MC "Well we will speak to you on Friday and indeed throughout the three weeks of the TDF each day on the show - for the moment, thanks to DW of the ST"
about LA Confidential : here is the detail.
Matt Cooper the host of the show introduced DW.
MC and DW worked together at the Sunday Tribune newspaper here in Ireland in the early 1990's.
MC :
"And now we're joined by the finest sports journalist that this country has ever produced - David Walsh of the ST"
MC "David, you have written a book called LA Confidential about the TDF cyclist Lance Armstrong - could you tell us about it ?"
DW "yes, it's a book about the recovery of LA and cycling
performances of LA and how he used performance
enhancing drugs."
MC "maybe you'll set out the circumstances of the book - isn't it true to say that this book has caused some controversy ?"
DW "Myself and Pierre have been involved with covering cycling since the 1980's and we have followed the sport closely and after
1998, we began to realise that the sport was totally corrupt"
MC "Let me interrupt you there because on this program in 1998,
I put these issues to you and you defended the sport - are you now saying that the scales have been lifted from your eyes".
DW "Yes, I believed that the level of corruption in the sport
was not as widespread as the Festina scandal appeared to be -
and when the Festina scandal was exposed, I felt that the
journalist media had an obligation to expose cheats.
You've got to remember that 1998 almost saw the destruction of the TDF : in 1999 LA comes along and the Festina scandal is replaced by the media coverage of LA and his cancer story"
MC "OK, can you give the listeners some background here, David"
DW "Yes, LA was a cyclist who debuted in the early 1990's and was a great one day cyclist - youngest R/R champion - great
one bike racer.
In 1996, he was diagnosed with cancer and underwent 2 years
of treatment.
I interviewed Lance in 1993 and found him to be a thoroughly
engaging figure for a book that I was writing at the time.
I did a 3.5 hour interview with him for a book that I was writing at the time and wrote a piece about him - approx 7000 words"
MC "So it is fair to say that you were on good terms with LA ?"
DW "Yes, I found him very nice and pleasant. Anyway he came back to the TDF in 1999 and not only managed to win the TDF -
which was a miracle considering what he had been through - he also thoroughly dominated the race.
And it was then that my suspicions were aroused.
Matt, you've got to remember, at that time, we had a TDF on it's
knees following the biggest scandal in sport and here comes this
feelgood story.
I just found it very co-incidental that, just when the TDF was being exposed, that this feelgood story swept away the drugs
controversy of Festina"
MC "But what proof do you have that LA was using performance enhancing drugs to win the TDF ?"
DW "We have the testimony of people who worked closely with
LA.
If I could place in order of importance the people we spoke to :
Emma O'Reilly, masseuse to the USPS team 1996-2000 and chief
soigneur to LA in 1999/2000.
Stephen Swart"
MC " and these people have told you that LA was using perfromance enhancing drugs ?"
DW "Indeed, they have. Each person interviewed for the book has
given explicit details of what they saw going on within LA's team
and what LA was also doing.
In each case, these testimonies involve names, times and places
where they have recounted the use of performance enhancing drugs by LA".
MC " Did you put these allegations to LA before you published ?"
DW " We did for approximately one month before deciding to publish, we contacted LA's legal people.
We requested an interview with LA but his people refused.
Bill Stapleton - his manager - contacted us and asked us to put in writing the questions that we wanted LA to answer.
We summarised our concerns in to 8 questions and sent them to
Bill Stapleton.
We then repeatedly contacted Stapleton to see if LA would answer these questions in person.
They fobbed us off - they said they would meet with us but any time we asked for a time slot with LA, we were refused.
We then informed LA's people that we intended to publish our evidence in the absence of a response from LA.
LA's people issued legal threats to us."
MC "OK, tell us how you managed to get the book published ?"
"Well we brought our book to eight British publishers who were very eager to print this book.
However in each case, the legal people at the 8 published adviced that because of the stringent libel laws in the UK and Ireland, they could not publish this book and they refused to deal with us.
I did not wish to put my employer in an invidious position either.
(Sunday Times).
Pierre and myself went to paris and the first publisher we met was willing to publish because the libel laws in France are not as
draconian."
MC "So the book cannot be published in UK and Ireland but is
published in France ?"
DW "Yes but LA has also taken an action in France to stop it being published as well"
MC "This sounds like an interesting book and the people mentioned in it are prepared to back up their accounts ?"
DW "Indeed they are. I've got to say that they are all very brave people - Emma O'Reilly, Betsy Andreu, Greg and Kathy LeMond
and all eight people whose testimonies are in the book.
Each of them is willing to stand up in a court of law in France, if required to oppose the LA suit
These people are not afraid to get in to a witness box in France and to tell their story.
Unfortunately, we could not risk printed this book in the UK or Ireland because the libel laws are against free speech and to subject this people to this in this jurisdiction would be unfair.
But, yes, they are all willing to testify in France"
MC "Well we will speak to you on Friday and indeed throughout the three weeks of the TDF each day on the show - for the moment, thanks to DW of the ST"
