Lance Armstrong investigator shares why he was not involved in documentary

ESPN has followed its success with “The Last Dance” documentary series on Michael Jordan and the 1990s Chicago Bulls by airing a two-part documentary on Lance Armstrong. The documentary, directed by Marina Zenovich, examines the rise and fall of Armstrong.

Jeff Novitzky played a role in investigating the use of performance-enhancing drugs by Armstrong’s cycling teams but did not participate in the documentary. Novitzky told The Athletic’s Greg Rosenstein that he turned down the chance to help the documentary because Armstrong was involved.

ESPN will air a documentary on the rise and fall of Lance Armstrong tonight.@JeffNovitzkyUFC, who had a major part in bringing Armstrong to justice for doping, tells me he turned down repeated requests by the director to help.

"Not interested if Lance is playing a role in it."

— Greg Rosenstein (@grosenstein) May 24, 2020

Novitzky is 52 and became known for leading the IRS’ BALCO investigation that blew the lid on the use of steroids by Barry Bonds and other athletes, like Jason Giambi, Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery and Bill Romanowski. He later got involved in the Armstrong case and helped bring down the cyclist, who lied for years about being clean.

Novitzky now works for the UFC as the Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance.