David Joseph Walsh (born 17 June 1955) is an Irish sports journalist and chief sports writer for the British newspaper The Sunday Times. He is a four-time Irish Sportswriter of the Year and a three-time UK Sportswriter of the Year. Walsh was the key journalist in uncovering the doping program by Lance Armstrong and the US Postal Service Cycling Team, leading to a lifetime ban from cycling for Armstrong and being stripped of his seven Tour titles.

Career Walsh began his career as a cub reporter on the Leitrim Observer, where he worked his way up to become editor at 25. He left the paper to join the Dublin-based daily the Irish Press. In 1984, he took a year out to cover cycling in Paris. Returning to his Dublin-based paper after that year, he ultimately left in 1987 to work for the Sunday Tribune before moving onto the rival Sunday Independent four years later. Walsh joined The Sunday Times in Ireland in 1996 and began working on the story about doping in professional cycling shortly after moving to England in 1998.David Walsh: "It was obvious to me Lance Armstrong was doping", article written by Andrew Pugh, published on 11 October 2012 in the pressgazette.co.uk

Walsh was the ghost writer for cricketer Kevin Pietersen's autobiography, published in October 2014.

Investigation on doping within cycling

Referred to as the 'Little Troll' by Lance Armstrong,David Walsh on His Pursuit of Lance Armstrong, Posted on 21 December 2012 and updated on 22 December 2012 in huffingtonpost.co.uk Walsh along with fellow Irishman and Sunday Times journalist Paul Kimmage, led the way in exposing the systematic doping rife within cycling, in particular the US Postal Team and its leader, Lance Armstrong. Walsh revealed in the Sunday Times in 2001 after a two-year investigation that Armstrong was working with the controversial Italian doctor Michele Ferrari. Under the headline "Champ or Cheat?" The Sunday Times asked in 2001 why a clean rider would work with a dirty doctor.Sun Times reviews Armstrong 'liar and cheat' libel payout, article written by Dominic Ponsford and published on 28 August 2012 in the pressgazette.co.uk

Walsh's books on Armstrong include L.A. Confidentiel (2003 with Pierre Ballester), in which Armstrong's soigneur Emma O'Reilly revealed that she has taken clandestine trips to pick up and drop off what she concluded were doping products; From Lance to Landis: Inside the American Doping Controversy at the Tour de France; and Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong (2012).

Reacting to the confessions Armstrong made in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, broadcast on 17 and 18 January 2013, Walsh said that "the interview was fine in as far as it went, but it did not go nearly far enough, and even in as far as it went I was particularly disappointed that he didn't admit what might be called the hospital room admission from 1996".Walsh seems to refer to this question: 1. Did you tell doctors at the Indiana University Hospital on 27 October 1996 that you had taken EPO, human growth hormone, cortisone, steroids and testosterone?. This question was the first of 10 questions the Sunday Times published in a full-page ad in the Chicago Tribune in January 2013 before Winfrey did the interview: chicagotribune.com Walsh was also disappointed that Armstrong failed to "name names".David Walsh: Oprah Armstrong interview "did not go nearly far enough", article written by Andrew Pugh, published on 18 January 2013 in the pressgazette.co.uk

Before Winfrey did the interview, Walsh's Sunday Times bought a full-page ad in the Chicago Tribune—Winfrey lives in Chicago—to suggest 10 questions she should ask.Ad offers advice to Oprah for Armstrong interview, Tribune report, 12 January 2013, chicagotribune.com The Sunday Times lost a libel suit over Walsh's coverage and Walsh wrote in a postscript to his 10 questions in The Tribune: "The Sunday Times is seeking to recover about $1.5m (million) it claims he got by fraud. He used Britain's draconian libel laws against us".Who gains more, Lance Armstrong or Oprah Winfrey?, article published on 16 January 2013, thespectrum.com/usatoday

Referring to the battle against doping in cycling sport on a global scale, Walsh said in January 2013 in an interview with Global Cycling Network (GCN) that "cycling needs new leadership" and that Greg LeMond "could serve as interim UCI president in an effort to pressure Pat McQuaid to leave his post".Walsh on LeMond: Enduring the vengeance of Armstrong, article written by Neal Rogers and published on 12 January 2013 velonews.competitor.com

On 29 January 2013, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said it is "dismayed" by the way cycling's global governing body has handled the fallout from the Lance Armstrong affair and accused it of being "deceitful" and "arrogant". John Fahey, the president of WADA concluded that "UCI has again chosen to ignore its responsibility" to cycling.WADA 'dismayed' by UCI's handling of Lance Armstrong fallout, article written by Owen Gibson and published on 29 January 2013 guardian.co.uk

In October 2013, it was announced that his book Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong was to be adapted into a film entitled The Program, directed by Stephen Frears and starring Chris O'Dowd as Walsh and Ben Foster as Armstrong. The film was released in Autumn 2015.

Awards and nominations Ceremony/award Award Work Result2000 British Press AwardsSports Writer of the YearSunday Times2003 British Press Awards2012 British Press AwardsJournalist of the Year2013 British Press AwardsBarclays Lifetime Achievement Award2013 Irish Book AwardsRTÉ Television Sports Book of the YearSeven Deadly SinsWilliam Hill awardWilliam Hill Sports Book of the Year

Controversies

In 2012, Walsh gave a character reference for former sports journalist Tom Humphries during his trial for child molestation. In October 2017, Walsh apologised for what he said in a 2012 radio interview about the case but said he would remain friends with Humphries despite his conviction.

References

External links Lance, the lies and me, article by David Walsh, published on 4 November 2012, thesundaytimes.co.uk Lance Armstrong: Drugs, denials and me, article by David Walsh, published on 11 January 2013, thesundaytimes.co.uk Extraordinary Proof. In 2016, an episode of "The Moth Radio Hour" featured David Walsh talking about his pursuit of the Lance Armstrong doping story, and his reasons for persevering with it. The Moth: Family, Neighbors and Extraordinary Proof