NIKE sponsor drugs cheat Justin Gatlin

Justin Gatlin of the USA is one of the world's top sprinters with a personal best of 9.77 seconds for 100m. He is however a controversial character having twice been banned for drug offences.....for amphetamines in 2001  and for testosterone in 2006.

The news that he has been given a sponsorship deal by NIKE has been greeted by dismay by many in the athletics community.

Paula Radcliffe in her twitter posted the following........“I am very disappointed to hear this news. I don’t believe it truly reflects the core values of the Nike that I am proud to represent, nor the integrity and the ideals of the people I work with on a daily basis.”

Athletics Weekly have an article on it HERE .....and they ask how can a company like NIKE sponsor a known drugs cheat like Gatlin and yet drop someone like Jo Pavey who won the 10000m at the European Championships last year aged 41.