Lance Armstrong confession not affecting Milwaukee LIVESTRONG programs

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- In an interview with Oprah, airing Thursday and Friday, January 17th and 18th, it is expected Lance Armstrong will admit to having used performance-enhancing drugs. Meanwhile, those associated with the YMCA's LIVESTRONG programs say the confession will not compromise their efforts.

Armstrong came "ready" for the interview Monday with Winfrey, the long-time TV talk show host said Tuesday. The interview will air in two parts, Thursday night and Friday night, on Winfrey's OWN cable network and the Internet, she said.

Speaking with her close friend Gayle King on "CBS This Morning," Winfrey would not give specific quotes from the interview. But she appeared to confirm multiple media reports that the former seven-time Tour de France champion used the occasion to acknowledge having used performance-enhancing drugs.

A spokesperson with the LIVESTRONG at the Y program says the program has never been about Lance Armstrong, but rather, about cancer survivors.

"This program has a heart and soul and life of its own. It's not dependent on any one person or even one organization. The cancer survivors we work with aren't raising questions I think because they know what the heart and soul of the program is, so some of this frenzy over one celebrity's mistakes is not what they're concerned about," Janet McMahon said.

LIVESTRONG is a cancer-related foundation that Armstrong founded in 1997.

McMahon, the Vice President for Mission Impact and Healthy Living Strategies for the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee says her organization became involved in 2009.

"Our Y, in Metropolitan Milwaukee was the first in the group of 10 Y's nationally to begin to develop a specialized fitness program for cancer survivors," McMahon said.

McMahon says the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee's LIVESTRONG at the Y programs do not get any funding from the LIVESTRONG Foundation. She says right now, those administering the programs are more focused on expanding to one or perhaps additional locations because the waiting list is growing.

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