Lance Armstrong has agreed to pay the federal government $5 million to settle fraud allegations that could have resulted in a nearly $100 penalty. The U.S. Postal Service, which had sponsored the disgraced cyclist’s team, argued that Armstrong defrauded taxpayers by accepting millions from the government agency while using performance-enhancing drugs during competition.

“A competitor who intentionally uses illegal PEDs not only deceives fellow competitors and fans, but also sponsors, who help make sporting competitions possible,” Chad Reader, acting attorney general for the Justice Department’s civil division, said in a statement. “This settlement demonstrates that those who cheat the government will be held accountable.”

Armstrong, for his part, cast the agreement as a win, as well.

“I am glad to resolve this case and move forward with my life,” the 46-year-old former professional cyclist said in a statement released to NPR by his attorneys Thursday.

“I’m looking forward to devoting myself to the many great things in my life – my five kids, my wife, my podcast, several exciting writing and film projects, my work as a cancer survivor, and my passion for sports and competition,” he added. “There is a lot to look forward to.”

During his time cycling, Armstrong famously won a record seven consecutive Tour de France titles after recovering from testicular cancer, six of which he won as a member of the USPS-sponsored team.

But he was dogged by suspicions of doping throughout his career — including from his former teammate, Floyd Landis, who sued him in 2010 under the False Claims Act. As Reuters explains, the federal law “lets whistle-blowers pursue fraud cases on behalf of the government, and obtain rewards if successful.”

By 2012, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency found that Armstrong’s team “ran the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen” — but it was not until 2013 that he publicly admitted to cheating in a highly publicized interview with Oprah Winfrey. Ultimately, Armstrong was stripped of his Tour de France wins and banned for life from competition.

Not long after the Oprah interview, federal prosecutors joined Landis’ suit on behalf of the USPS. The plaintiffs accused Armstrong of financially benefiting from his repeated false statements and, in turn, harming the government agency that spent tens of millions sponsoring his team.

With Thursday’s settlement, however, the trial scheduled for May 7 ends before it could even get underway.

“The Postal Service has strongly supported the Department of Justice’s intervention and pursuit of this case, as it always has been our position that Lance Armstrong misled the Postal Service,” Thomas J. Marshall, USPS general counsel, said in a statement Thursday.

“This matter has now been resolved in a manner that imposes consequences for that wrongful action,” he added. “With this case, as in all other instances, the Postal Service vigorously defends our brand and our position as a trusted government institution.”

Landis, who has previously admitted to doping himself, will receive about $1.1 million as part of the settlement.

“I am particularly glad to have made peace with the Postal Service,” Armstrong said Thursday, noting that he has tried “to take full responsibility for my mistakes, and make amends wherever possible.”

“I rode my heart out for the Postal cycling team, and was always especially proud to wear the red, white and blue eagle on my chest when competing in the Tour de France,” he added. “Those memories are very real and mean a lot to me.”

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Australian authorities have shut down a major international surfing event after recreational surfers were attacked by sharks near the site of the competition on the country’s southwest coast.

The World Surf League cancelled the remainder of this year’s Margaret River Pro, which began April 11 and was to finish on Monday. The decision came after the two surfers, who were not in the competition, were mauled in separate attacks earlier this week at surf spots only a few miles from the event’s main venue in West Australia.

In announcing the cancellation, the WSL said the safety of surfers was paramount and that the attacks had “crossed the threshold for what is acceptable” risk for competitors.

“If we decided to continue the event under the current circumstances and something terrible were to take place, we would never forgive ourselves,” WSL chief executive Sophie Goldschmidt was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald.

On Monday, Alexander Travaglini, 37, was knocked from his board at Cobblestones off Gracetown by a suspected great white shark. Fellow surfers helped him to shore. He required surgery to both legs but is reportedly in good condition and recovering.

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC) surf photographer Peter Jovic said he witnessed the attack.

“‘[I] saw the guy who had been attacked get separated from the [surf] board and then start to paddle for an inside wave, which he managed to body surf all the way in.

They got him to shore and started working on him to stem the bleeding.'”

Hours later and just a mile and a half away from the first attack, 41-year-old Jason Longgrass was bitten on the leg at Lefthanders break. In a report by Australia’s Channel 7 cited by The West Australian, Longgrass is seen in cell phone video as he fights to escape the shark.

Once ashore, Longgrass is ambulatory, but with a deep bite mark on his right thigh.

The Herald says that the attacks add to uncertainty about the future of the Margaret River event, where “beached whales [attract] sharks” and contribute to their “aggressive behaviour.”

According to the newspaper, “One-time world champion Gabriel Medina expressed fears about re-entering the water following the shark attacks and current world No.1 Italo Ferreira echoed his sentiments.”

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Desiree Linden became the first American woman to win the Boston Marathon since 1985 — finishing 26.2 miles in 2 hours, 39 minutes and 54 seconds on Monday.

The 34-year-old runner is a two-time Olympian, and she finished second at the Boston Marathon in 2011. But her victory this week almost didn’t happen.

In the cold rain and wind, Linden says she wasn’t feeling well and thought about bailing out of the race.

“It was such a miserable day, and when things go awry, they can kind of ding you up for a while and also take time out of your career,” she says. “I’m on the back half of my career, so I have to be super careful at this point. And early on, I was freezing and my muscles were tight, and I was like ‘This isn’t – this is not my day.’ So I did kind of toy around with the idea of stepping off.”

Interview Highlights

On fellow American runner Shalane Flanagan’s bathroom break

We had talked about it a little earlier on in the race when I knew I might be stepping off. I said, “Hey, if you need help with anything along the way, I’m happy to run through the wind for you and just kind of be a block or whatever you might need.”

And so she nudged me later and said, “Hey, I’m going to do the port-a-potty thing.” And I was like, “OK, well, I’ll try to run you back into the group.” And we got back up there. We reconnected. There was just so much pride on the American side this year. We wanted it so bad. Thirty-three years since an American winner, and I felt like there was some team camaraderie out there.

If you can help someone be in position, sometimes it helps yourself out as well. It wasn’t about me for those moments, and it kind of came full circle.

On crossing the finish line

It’s the moment you dream of during the tough days when you don’t wanna go out and run, when you’re a little kid and you’re getting into the sport, and you turn [on] the TV, and you see the Boston Marathon. You dream about breaking that tape. It was the culmination of years of hard work, and years of dreaming, and years of never giving up.

On the mantra at the top of Linden’s Twitter feed

That was full-on, in the moment, in the training block. There’s a lot of days that I was like, “I don’t know if I’m going to even get to start this race, like this is not going well. It should be going better.” And then, there was a lot of days where you’d had that glimmer of hope, and you go, “No, this is exactly on pace. This is the perfect – it’s going to plan absolutely 100 percent.” And I decided to stop thinking about each day so much, and just keep showing up. Like, whatever the day gave me, just show up. That’s kind of how I attacked the race, too. Once I got over the fact that I wasn’t going to drop out, it was like, “Just show up for one more mile. Show up for one more minute.” And that was kind of my mantra throughout this entire build and through the entire race day on Monday.

Sam Gringlas and Emily Kopp produced and edited the audio story. Sydnee Monday adapted it for the Web.

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It was a nasty day to run 26.2 miles through Boston. But American Desiree Linden pushed her way through a powerful headwind and cold rain and up Heartbreak Hill to triumph at the Boston Marathon — the first time a U.S. woman has won in 33 years.

“It’s supposed to be hard,” Linden told reporters after her victory, shivering with a laurel wreath atop her head. “It’s good to get it done.”

The poor conditions turned the race into a slog. Linden’s winning time — 2 hours, 39 minutes and 54 seconds — is the slowest time for a winner in the women’s race since 1978, according to The Associated Press. The winning time last year, posted by Kenya’s Edna Kiplagat, was nearly 18 minutes faster.

It was a big day for American women, who claimed seven of the top eight spots in the race.

Linden, a 34-year-old who lives in Michigan, wowed commentators when she waited for Shalane Flanagan while her teammate made a quick toilet break 45 minutes into the race.

In the 2011 Boston Marathon, Linden came in second, just two seconds behind winner Caroline Kilel. She ran it in a personal best 2:22:38. Linden is also a two-time Olympian — she came in seventh at the 2016 Rio Games but had to drop out a few miles into the marathon at the 2012 London Games because of a stress fracture.

This year’s men’s race was won by Japan’s Yuki Kawauchi, with a time of 2:15:58. He is Japan’s first Boston Marathon winner since 1987. Boston was Kawauchi’s fourth marathon — and fourth win — this year, The New York Timesreports.

“For me, these are the best conditions possible,” he told the AP.

Marcel Hug of Switzerland notched his fifth win in the men’s wheelchair division, while American woman Tatyana McFadden also won her fifth title.

This year’s marathon marks five years since bombs exploded at the finish line, killing three people and wounding hundreds.

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