Former professional cyclist Lance Armstrong told the world Thursday evening that he used performance-enhancing drugs during his seven Tour de France titles.

In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Mr. Armstrong said that like many other cyclists before him, he used EPO, human-growth hormone, testosterone and other drugs to compete. 'I'm a flawed character,' Mr. Armstrong said during the hour-and-a-half program. 'I viewed this situation as one big lie that I repeated a lot of times.'

The taped show, which was broadcast on the Oprah Winfrey Network and on the Internet, marked the end of a dozen years of strident denials from Mr. Armstrong, who faced several doping scandals during his career but had, until last summer, escaped punishment from antidoping authorities and scrutiny from his fans and many in the public.

Mr. Armstrong said that doping was so prevalent in professional cycling from the early 1990s to 2005, that saying they needed to take banned substances was like 'saying we have to have air in our tires and we have to have water in our bottles.'

For many cycling fans and observers of Mr. Armstrong, their biggest criticism of the fallen champion hasn't been his alleged doping, but his persistent attacks of those who spoke the truth about doping or chose not to participate in doping.

But in the interview, Mr. Armstrong repeatedly denied he ever pressured riders on his team to use drugs or gave them an ultimatum that if they didn't use drugs they would be off the team. But he said he was a bully, and as the leader of the team he helped perpetuate the atmosphere of doping on the team.

Mr. Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles last year and banned from professional sports for life by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

In October, USADA chose to release to the public thousands of pages of documents supporting its decision. The documents included affidavits from roughly a dozen of his former teammates, all of whom accused him of doping.

Shortly after USADA released the documents, all of Mr. Armstrong's major sponsors, including Nike, ended their relationship with the athlete, cutting off his major source of income.

Mr. Armstrong's admission could complicate his legal troubles. He is facing a whistleblower suit filed by former teammate Floyd Landis with potential damages of roughly $100 million. He also could face civil suits from an insurance company that paid his Tour de France bonus money and The Sunday Times, a British newspaper that Mr. Armstrong sued for libel. The Times, like The Wall Street Journal, is owned by News Corp.

REED ALBERGOTTI/VANESSA O'CONNELL

• professional [prə´feʃənəl]   a.职业的 n.自由职业   (初中英语单词)
• interview [´intəvju:]   n.&vt.接见；会见；交谈   (初中英语单词)
• compete [kəm´pi:t]   v.比赛，竞争，对抗   (初中英语单词)
• program [´prəugræm]   n.说明v.为...安排节目   (初中英语单词)
• career [kə´riə]   n.经历；生涯；职业   (初中英语单词)
• punishment [´pʌniʃmənt]   n.罚，刑罚   (初中英语单词)
• criticism [´kritisizəm]   n.批评；评论(文)   (初中英语单词)
• champion [´tʃæmpiən]   n.冠军 vt.拥护   (初中英语单词)
• atmosphere [´ætməsfiə]   n.大气；空气；气氛   (初中英语单词)
• release [ri´li:s]   vt&n.释放；放松；赦免   (初中英语单词)
• admission [əd´miʃən]   n.接纳；承认   (初中英语单词)
• journal [´dʒə:nəl]   n.日记；日报；杂志   (初中英语单词)
• repeated [ri´pi:tid]   a.反复的；重复的   (高中英语单词)
• broadcast [´brɔ:dkɑ:st]   v.&n.散布 a.广播的   (高中英语单词)
• saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ]   n.言语；言论；格言   (高中英语单词)
• persistent [pə´sistənt]   a.坚持的；固执的   (高中英语单词)
• roughly [´rʌfli]   ad.粗糙地；毛糙地   (高中英语单词)
• relationship [ri´leiʃənʃip]   n.关系；联系；亲属关系   (高中英语单词)
• potential [pə´tenʃəl]   n.&a.潜在的；可能的   (高中英语单词)
• network [´netwə:k]   n.网状物 vt.联播   (英语四级单词)
• prevalent [´prevələnt]   a.流行的；普遍的   (英语四级单词)
• participate [pɑ:´tisipeit]   v.参与；分享；带有   (英语四级单词)
• repeatedly [ri´pi:tidli]   ad.反复地；再三地   (英语四级单词)
• athlete [´æθlit, ´æθli:t]   n.体育家；运动员   (英语四级单词)