The sports world might be on the verge of some closure regarding Lance Armstrong. The Associated Press and USA Today both reported Monday that the disgraced cyclist admitted to doping throughout his career in an interview with Oprah Winfrey. The interview is scheduled to air Thursday on Winfrey's OWN network.
After years of denying that he cheated while winning seven Tour de France titles, Armstrong's admission might be a shock to the system. Of course, he's not the first person to shatter a squeaky-clean image. Here are our Top 5 most shocking performance-enhancing drug admissions.
No. 5: Jim Parque
This one makes the list because it truly is baffling. In 2009, the 5-foot-11, 170-pound former White Sox pitcher told the Sun-Times he took HGH while rehabilitating from an injury in 2003. Well, his career might not have been clean, but at least his conscience is.
"Did I hurt people? Did I disgrace baseball? Yes, but I was trying to preserve a financial future, keep my family's lifestyle intact and keep a lifelong journey alive."
-in an interview with the Sun-Times
No. 4: Melky Cabrera
We're not sure what's more shocking: that the physically unassuming San Francisco outfielder tested positive for testosterone in 2012, that he admitted taking a substance he "should not have used" or that he removed himself from consideration for the batting title. The latter seems unusually classy for a cheater.
"I am deeply sorry for my mistake and I apologize to my teammates, to the San Francisco Giants organization and to the fans for letting them down."
-in a statement
No. 3: Terry Bradshaw
The shadow cast over football players who use steroids is considerably shorter than in baseball. However, it still was surprising to hear Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw tell "The Dan Patrick Show" in 2008 that he used steroids in the 1970s.
"My use of steroids from a doctor was to speed up [healing from] an injury, and I thought nothing of it."
-on "The Dan Patrick Show"
No. 2: Charlie Sheen
It's not so much that Sheen admitted in Sports Illustrated to doing steroids while working on "Major League." No, it's that he was committed enough to the authenticity of the game to get on the juice and inject life into his fastball. Yes, we're being sarcastic. It really is out of left field for an ACTOR to use performance enhancers.
"It was the only time I ever did steroids. I did them for like six or eight weeks. You can print this, I don't give a [bleep]. My fastball went from 79 to like 85." -in an interview with Sports Illustrated
No. 1: Alex Rodriguez
His numbers were great from the start and always consistent. He didn't have the anger issues or ridiculously buff body of a typical user. But in February of 2009, shortly after a Sports Illustrated story said the then-N.Y. Yankees slugger tested positive in 2003, Rodriguez admitted he used steroids from 2001-03. There goes the Hall of Fame, Alex.
"I felt like I had all the weight of the world on top of me and I needed to perform, and perform at a high level every day. I did take a banned substance. And for that, I am very sorry and deeply regretful."
-at a news conference
Want more? Discuss this article and others on RedEye Sports' Facebook page.