Mike Rowbottom: Gatlin's New Deal - Nike work if you can get it

My Twitter reach is hardly all-embracing, but I have received some very clear opinions in the last few hours about Nike's decision to award a new sponsorship deal to Justin Gatlin, the former Olympic 100 metres champion who returned to the sport in 2010 after a second doping ban.

And the general opinion is: this is wrong.

The United States sprinter, now 33, tested positive for amphetamines in 2001 before receiving an eight-year ban - later reduced to four - for testosterone in 2006.

That second transgression caused Nike to drop him. Since 2012, he has been wearing clothing manufactured by Chinese company Xtep.

But, after going undefeated in 2014 and registering personal bests of 9.77sec for the 100m and 19.68 for the 200m, Gatlin has now been brought back into the Nike fold as he begins his challenge to beat Usain Bolt at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing in August.

Justin Gatlin, the former Olympic 100m champion who has served two doping suspensions has roused controversy following Nike's signing him up with a new deal this season
©Getty Images

His success on the track last season also earned him a place on the short-list for the title of IAAF World Athlete of the Year. But, sighs of relief all round, when the final three contenders were announced, his name was not among them.

News of Gatlin's Nike deal comes soon after it emerged that fellow US sprinter Tyson Gay - who returned to the sport last year after having a two-year doping suspension halved in exchange for what the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) described as "significant assistance" with regard to his case - would be wearing Nike colours this season.

(Last December Gay's coach, Jon Drummond, was given an eight year ban by USADA).

Gay, the 100 and 200m 2007 world champion, was dropped by Adidas after testing positive for a banned substance in 2012, but will now compete in Nike kit after he started working with Nike-sponsored coach John Smith.

Tyson Gay was dropped by sponsors Adidas after being given a two-year drugs ban but is now expected to wear Nike clothing this season ©Adidas

Gatlin's elevation back into the Nike top tier has provoked widespread dismay, which has been expressed in a variety of forms.

By far the liveliest has come from "Louise @Swift_Girl, who has been moved to put together two limericks on the subject which I will simply reproduce:

"There twice was a drug cheat named Gatlin

"Whose times at age 32 were baffling

"We hate his smug face

"He's an athletics disgrace

"We all hope he gets hit by a javelin!"

Her second effort is hardly more complimentary:

"There twice was a drug cheat called Justin

"Whose repeated PED abuse is disgustin'

"Now sponsored by Nike

"He's Lance without a bike

"Athletics fans should never ever trust him!

April Taylor's Twitter comment - "brings a whole new meaning to Just Do it. Just Dope it".

Bayo, Athletics fan par excellence at Athletics International, has had his say too: "I'm buying new trainers this week. They were going to be @nike like my last ones. Obviously that's now changed."

Britain's former European champion and Olympic silver medallist javelin thrower Steve Backley has commented: "What sort of message is that from #Nike signing new sponsorship deal with multiple drug cheat Justin Gatlin? #DrugCheatsOut."

Olympic bronze medal-winning heptathlete Kelly Sotherton wrote on Twitter: "What inspiration does Justin Gatlin give up-and-coming athletes Nike? Take drugs, get caught twice and sign a shoe contract?!"

Jenny Meadows, the British 800m runner, who became European Indoor champion for 2011 after the gold medal was belatedly stripped from the Russian who won it following an adverse doping test,said: "Gatlin gets Nike deal having served two doping bans when clean athletes lead world indoor rankings and have no funding or sponsorship! Justice?"

Britain's world marathon record holder and Nike athlete Paula Radcliffe has tweeted that she is "very disappointed" to hear about Justin Gatlin's new contract ©Nike

For Britain's world marathon record holder Paula Radcliffe, herself a Nike athlete, the latest news has proved troubling indeed.

Flagging up her comment as "My response to lots of questions today", the former world champion tweets: "I am very disappointed to hear this news. I don't believe it truly reflects the core values of tne NIKE that I am proud to represent, nor the integrity and ideals of the people there that I work with on a daily basis."

Meanwhile, former European 100m and Olympic 4x100m relay champion Darren Campbell has told the Daily Telegraph that he believes the decision is "absolute nonsense", adding: "It worries me because I thought part of these sponsorship deals were about the individual being an ambassador for the brand.

"Nike are seen as one of the biggest brands in the world so I don't know how they are going to fan the flames of this. It's absolute nonsense.

"Imagine if you are a Nike-sponsored athlete and you'll be wondering if Gatlin will be used in campaigns. I don't think I would be comfortable with that but athletes have to feed their families so what do they do?

"If young kids look at the spikes he is wearing and say they want them then how can a parent explain why they are not comfortable buying those shoes? It creates all sorts of problems."

Nike were one of Lance Armstrong's main sponsors during his seven Tour de France victories, which he was later stripped of after being banned for doping ©Livestrong

Nike have yet to respond with any comment.

While we wait, let me offer you part of an interview in the July 1992 issue of the Harvard Business Review. Asking the questions - Geraldine E Willigan. Answering them - Phil Knight, Nike's founder, chairman and chief executive.

"What if a Nike athlete does something illegal or socially unacceptable?" asks Willigan.

"There's always a chance that somebody will get into drugs or do something like Mike Tyson did," Knight replies. "But if you do your scouting well, you can avoid a lot of those situations.

"Three or four years ago we were recruiting two very exciting college basketball players, but before we signed them we checked with our network of college coaches.

"We learned that one of them had a cocaine problem and the other could only play good offensive ball with his back to the basket. Needless to say, we didn't sign either of them, and both of them were a bust in the NBA."

"Is social responsibility part of being a marketing-oriented company?" our interviewer continues.

"I've always believed that businesses should be good citizens, which has nothing to do with marketing,"says Knight. "But the thing I was missing until recently is the issue of visibility - and that is tied to marketing. It's not enough to do good things. You have to let people know what you're doing."

Wise words indeed.

Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain's most talented sportswriters, covered the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics as chief feature writer for insidethegames, having covered the previous five summer Games, and four winter Games, for The Independent. He has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, The Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian. To follow him on Twitter click here.