Lance Armstrong and Gary Kasparov: Explaining heroes to your child

My husband and I have raised our four sons to be keen on two things: chess and cycling. This week, two of their mightiest heroes have fallen, and we are faced with exploring their actions and the apparent lack of something all children prize highly – fairness. First grandmaster Garry Kasparov was jailed in Russia during a social protest, and today seven-time Tour de France Winner Lance Armstrong, who has fought mountains and his own body, gave up the fight over doping allegations.

"Mom, this is the worst week ever," said Quin, age eight, when he heard about Mr. Armstrong. "Did he really cheat? That would stink. How could he just give up if he didn’t do it?" A moment later he added, "And have we figured out if that grandmaster is going to jail for biting a police officer?"

Both these men are heroes to my boys and both have always been highly controversial figures. Explaining two major falls – albeit quite different kinds –  in a week has been a challenge.

Kasparov became the youngest ever undisputed World Chess Champion in 1985 at the age of 22 by defeating then-champion Anatoly Karpov. He has had long-term battles with chess' governing body FIDE over political issues and has become a loud voice in and outside Russia against President Vladimir Putin. The answer about Kasparov was easier than the one about Armstrong.

I explained that Kasparov recently announced he would run for the presidency of the Russian Chess Federation against President Vladimir Putin's man. Kasparov made Putin angry and suddenly Kasparov is arrested, beaten, and accused of something crazy. I believe the police dog bit the officer. Quin's response was, "But that's not fair!" Sometimes life's not fair.

Today I find myself at the dining room table with my husband and sons poring over every detail of the decision made by Armstrong to stop fighting the charges leveled by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) that could cost him his seven Tour de France titles. His entire career has been dogged internationally by charges of illegal doping, yet he passed every test. He has decried the USADA's practices as a "one-sided and unfair process." This is an American quasi-governmental agency that appears to have little oversight and perhaps not the actual authority to overrule the International Cycling Union, which has been backing Armstrong in this fight.

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