Matter of Life and Death

Things just keep getting worse and worse for Floyd Landis, the dethroned Tour de France Champion.

The latest (and saddest) twist of the saga: David Witt, his father-in-law, was found dead last Wednesday (August 16) in a car with a gunshot wound in his head. The death has been ruled by the officials as a suicide.

Landis and Witt were extremely close to each other. Witt is the step-father of Landis' wife, Amber, and it was Witt who introduced Landis to his future wife. Witt also played a huge role in converting Landis from a mountain biker to a road racer, and they were each other's best man in their own weddings.

While many suspect that Witt's death was related to the mounting pressure resulting from Landis' doping controversy, a source close to Landis claimed that Witt's death was not directly related to the scandal, and pointed to a failed business venture as the main reason behind it.

This followed the withdrawal of the sponsor of Landis' team, Phonak, a hearing-aid company based in Switzerland, citing that the controversy has had a serious impact on the company's image.

All these because of the discovery of an abnormally high testosterone ratio in Landis' body, following a routine test after his heroics in Stage 17 of the Tour, which saw him rebound from oblivion back into title contention in just one amazing day.

He was subsequently disqualified, thereby promoting Spanish rider Oscar Pereiro, who gained close to 30 minutes in Stage 13 in unexpected fashion, to the top of the podium. And his innocuous-looking breakaway in that stage has now made him a Tour de France Champion.

Landis has steadfastly denied taking illegal drugs, and has claimed other sources such as beer, alcohol and the medication for osteonecrosis in his hips as the possible reason for the failed drug test.

And more importantly, he has had the total support of his entire family throughout the controversy. But now comes the sad news relating to his father-in-law.

Doping controversy is not news at all. Athletes have been the subjects of doping scandals for decades, and refusal to co-operate with the authorities and perjury are some of the more common consequences associated with drug scandals.

But this is the very first time (or according Yours Truly's memory) that a drug scandal has resulted (directly or indirectly) in the death of a third party.

How is it going to affect Landis?

If he has never taken performance-enhancing drugs, he would be devastated in a sense that the unfair accusation and media scrutiny on him has led to the death of his father-in-law.

If he indeed has taken performance-enhancing drugs, he would even be more devastated in a sense that his win-at-all-cost attitude and lies (claiming that he was not on drugs) has led to the most tragic consequence he had ever imagined.

In one way or the other, he is utterly devastated right now.

But is he ruing the media attention for the unbearable pressure, or blaming himself for the tragic consequences at this very moment? Well, who knows.