Lance Armstrong
Armstrong is one of the most notorious athletes ever because of his incredible doping offenses. The cyclist became a superstar after he won seven consecutive Tour De France titles. He also swept the Vuelta Espana and Giro Italia multiple times. But then he lost them all after World Cycling wiped him from the record books.

Nonetheless, Armstrong deserves some credit after he recovered from cancer. He had a life-threatening illness but didn’t succumb to it. Then he fought hard to return to the sport he loved. Yes, he took copious amounts of performance-enhancing drugs and this probably helped him. But there is still something to admire in this sordid story (via Reuters).