END OF AN ERA

Lance Steps Down at Livestrong

While Nike severs contract.

The days of ubiquitous yellow bracelets feel like a distant memory. In a statement to the press, Lance Armstrong said he is stepping down as chairman of his cancer-fighting charity, Livestrong, so the group can focus on its mission. The announcement comes on the heels of the USADA’s 1,000-page dossier in which more than 26 people—including 15 cyclists—implicated themselves in a doping ring in order to prove Armstrong was the ring leader. Armstrong will remain on the charity’s 15-person board. Also on Wednesday, Nike Inc. announced it would terminate its contract with Armstrong, saying in a statement that there is “seemingly insurmountable evidence” that he “participated in doping and misled Nike for more than a decade.”