Lance Edward Gunderson was born on September 18, 1971, at Methodist Hospital in Richardson, Texas, to Linda Gayle (née Mooneyham), a secretary, and Eddie Charles Gunderson (died 2012), a route manager for The Dallas Morning News. He has Canadian, Dutch, and Norwegian ancestors.
He was named after Lance Rentzel, a wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys. Lance’s parents divorced when he was two years old, in 1973. The following year, his mother married Terry Keith Armstrong, a wholesale salesman, and Lance was born that year.
Armstrong began his athletic career as a swimmer at the City of Plano Swim Club when he was 12 years old, finishing fourth in the Texas state 1,500-meter freestyle. He stopped swimming-only races after seeing a poster for the Iron Kids Triathlon, which he won at the age of 13.
Armstrong was the number-one triathlete in the 19-and-under group in the 1987-1988 Tri-Fed/Texas (“Tri-Fed” was the former name of USA Triathlon); second place was Chann McRae, who later became a US Postal Service cycling teammate and the 2002 USPRO national champion. Armstrong’s total points as an amateur in 1987 were higher than those of five professionals ranked higher than him at the time.
Lance Armstrong became a professional triathlete at the age of 16, and he won the national sprint-course triathlon championships at the ages of 18 and 19, respectively, in 1989 and 1990.
What disease was Lance Armstrong diagnosed with?
Lance Armstrong, the celebrated cyclist and one of the greatest athletes the world has ever seen, was diagnosed with metastatic testicular cancer in October 1996, at the age of 24, with the disease has already spread to his abdomen, lungs, and brain.
