Lance Armstrong is coming to Dublin to speak at the One Zero conference on October 21st, and Paul Kimmage appeared on The Last Word with Matt Cooper with Rob Hartnett - the CEO of Sport for Business and the man who is organising the conference - to debate the morality of bringing Armstrong to Dublin.
Kimmage argued that the most likely scenario is that Armstrong will remain evasive with the truth on stage in Dublin, and that the event needed a strong interviewer on stage to grill Armstrong for the duration of the conference. Kimmage said that, were that not to happen, "you're not going to get anything other than complete and utter lies from him", citing factual inaccuracies in Armstrong's recent podcasts.
Kimmage later told Hartnett that he would pay Sport for Business for the opportunity to grill Lance on stage.
Hartnett confirmed that Irish journalist Ewan MacKenna would be hosting the conversation with Armstrong.
In the last few minutes, however, Armstrong has called out Kimmage on twitter, saying that he would be happy to be interviewed by him:
Hey @PaulKimmage, here's a thought. How about you and I do the interview @OneZeroCon?
— Lance Armstrong (@lancearmstrong) September 27, 2016
The likelihood of it happening would seem heightened by MacKenna's tweet in the aftermath:
Seems @lancearmstrong wants @PaulKimmage, not me, according to his account. History is there. Best of luck to them. Happy to step aside.
— Ewan MacKenna (@EwanMacKenna) September 27, 2016
Update: Kimmage has responded:
You're confusing me with one of those muppets that used to dance to your tune.
— Paul Kimmage (@PaulKimmage) September 27, 2016
But I'll answer you, although I'm not sure you deserve it. Will I sit diwn with you? Absolutely. But not on these terms
— Paul Kimmage (@PaulKimmage) September 27, 2016
@Ocean_handrail You made an agreement with Ewan McKenna, a fine journalist. Honour it.
— Paul Kimmage (@PaulKimmage) September 28, 2016
Kimmage and Armstrong previously faced off in a tense press conference in Los Angeles in 2009:
This is the head-to-head cycling fans around the globe have been wanting ever since Armstrong confessed his sins on the 'Oprah Winfrey' show. Kimmage would give Armstrong a grilling unlike one he has ever had before. But it's pretty unclear as yet whether that grilling will happen any time soon.
