Just do it

[TightEnd]

Justin Gatlin, twice banned for doping, gets a new Nike sponsorship deal.

Tyson Gay, who was dropped by Adidas when he tested for a banned substance in 2013, will also run in Nike kit

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/athletics/32051389

isn't this an absolutely horrendous message to give to young and future athletes?

[arbboy]

Does anyone think anyone who has run sub 9.85 is lifetime clean?   Maybe Bolt is just because he is a freak of nature build and height wise.  I struggle to beleive anyone else who has done sub 9.85 is lifetime clean when you look at all the drug cheats who have cheated their way to run 9.9's PB's in the past.  Then come off the gear after a ban and struggle to get anywhere near 10 seconds.  Chambers amongst numerous others.

[UgotNuts]

No Idea why Nike would risk damaging their brand here. They must see a different balance sheet from what I can imagine.

[tikay]

No Idea why Nike would risk damaging their brand here. They must see a different balance sheet from what I can imagine.

I would guess it is all about brand awareness & profile raising. It makes "noise".

It would be a deliberate ploy, not an accident.

[vegaslover]

Nike love controversial figures, always have. gets 'em headlines in the front and back pages.

Would only be able to say with any confidence that Bolt is clean, just a pure freak of nature.

Would 99.9% be confident of saying that there has never been a clean sprinter from the USA from the 80s onwards.
Think most others probs start off clean and then get to the point of 'if you cant beat em join em' mindset.

[TheDazzler]

Nike love controversial figures, always have. gets 'em headlines in the front and back pages.

Would only be able to say with any confidence that Bolt is clean, just a pure freak of nature.

Would 99.9% be confident of saying that there has never been a clean sprinter from the USA from the 80s onwards.
Think most others probs start off clean and then get to the point of 'if you cant beat em join em' mindset.

I'd like to think Bolt is clean but I just can't bring myself to believe it.
I just think anyone that dominates at the top of any athletic sport has to be on drugs, simply because everyone below them is so how can the No. 1 not be? And he's too dominant not to be as far as I can see.
Freak of nature? Yeah everyone is a freak of nature, until they aren't. I believed Carl Lewis was. I believed Lance Armstrong was. Now, I don't believe any of them.

[BigAdz]

Come on. Someone HAS to be the best. Fact.

Some 6'6 guy built like him looks a pretty good candidate.

He must be clean,

[tikay]

It's not athlltics, but in other sports I'm pretty sure there are some individuals who are head & shoulders above the rest, but are clean.

Messi would be a good example, I think. 

[TheDazzler]

It's not athlltics, but in other sports I'm pretty sure there are some individuals who are head & shoulders above the rest, but are clean.

Messi would be a good example, I think. 

Well I don't know about Messi specifically but the fact that virtually no one is ever caught for drug use in football is highly suspicious. I'm convinced that anything that has lots of money in it and has a strong element of physicality involved is riddled with drugs.
Anyone who is at the top of any game is on drugs.
Messi? Drugs.
Federer? Drugs.
Bolt? Drugs.
Tikay? Drugs.

[tikay]

It's not athlltics, but in other sports I'm pretty sure there are some individuals who are head & shoulders above the rest, but are clean.

Messi would be a good example, I think. 

Well I don't know about Messi specifically but the fact that virtually no one is ever caught for drug use in football is highly suspicious. I'm convinced that anything that has lots of money in it and has a strong element of physicality involved is riddled with drugs.
Anyone who is at the top of any game is on drugs.
Messi? Drugs.
Federer? Drugs.
Bolt? Drugs.
Tikay? Drugs.

My drug is called fun.

As it happens, since I mentoned Messi, several kind souls have PM'd me to ask if it was, effectively, a level.

Ugh at the thought, but if it is, so be it I suppose.

I thought drugs in sport were to increases stamina, speed, endurance, muscle etc. Messi just seems, to me, to have astonishing ball control & skill, can't see how drugs would help with those. Great temprement too, does not get involved in the theatricals.

If you suggested, say, Ronaldo or Bale, yes, I'd maybe buy that, Ronaldo especially, his whole body has changed shape in the last few years. Not saying he is, just a far more likely suspect, imo. 

Beckham in his prime? Surely not.

[swinebag22]

It's not athlltics, but in other sports I'm pretty sure there are some individuals who are head & shoulders above the rest, but are clean.

Messi would be a good example, I think. 

Well I don't know about Messi specifically but the fact that virtually no one is ever caught for drug use in football is highly suspicious. I'm convinced that anything that has lots of money in it and has a strong element of physicality involved is riddled with drugs.
Anyone who is at the top of any game is on drugs.
Messi? Drugs.
Federer? Drugs.
Bolt? Drugs.
Tikay? Drugs.

Drugs in football is very dodgy.

I may be wrong but I believe that Real Madrid,  Bayern and possibly Barca employ or have employed doctors who have worked with doping cyclists in the past.

Also the testing in football is nowhere near as rigorous in terms of blood passports etc.

Based purely on their appearance and their club I would put the following as potential dopers: Bale, Ronaldo, Robben. All three seem to have changed a lot in physical appearance, especially in terms of their facial features. Bale and Ronaldo have both had to wear dentist braces. Deformation of the jaw is a tell-tale sign of HGH use

[Marky147]

I'd imagine the lower you go, the more likely it is that more of them are on PEDs for the weekends

[Kmac84]

Pretty sure anyone at the top level of any sport is at it.  I know in sports I follow closely and know a few low level athletes they are rife. 

i always remember Linford after Barcelona in 92, just pulled up winning gold and first thing he says was he did it clean yet seemed o be breathing fairly easy.  For 99.99% of people who have just run flat out for sub 10 secs they are blowing out their arse.  Not Linford.   I know boys who trained at Lilleshall (sp) for British Squads who were offered gear by a Weightlifter Peter May, who was a decent British level lifter but who was almost always outgunned by Leon Griffiths (I think) and Steve Ward.  Peter May openly admitted to getting gere from Collin Jackson.  Rumour was he was sorted out by the afore mentioned Linford.   Peter competed against Leon and Steve for years at School/Junior and Senior levels and was aways ahead of them and then bang, they both got bigger, faster, stronger but seemed to be doing less work. 

I know of Darts players who compete at National level who are on BB's same for a few local Snooker players. 

Also come across numerous footballers who have a bit of an issue with shit going up their noses. 

[arbboy]

Linford's training squads found yards as soon as they joined.  Always remember Kath Merry joining up and she was finding lumps in months at an age where that sort of improvement was never really possible.  all about the training techniques though obviously

[Longy]

Messi was getting "treatment" from an early age as he had growth hormone deficiency.

I think we have just scratched the surface in what we definitely know about drug cheating in top level sport. The Armstrong affair being the most obvious example, how long did that take to come out despite everybody within cycling knowing about it for years?

There is too much money, too much fame for it not to happen. You also have a society where just to keep up, you have to do it to succeed and if there is one common trait amongst top level atheletes that their will to succeed is enormous to the detriment of the rest of their life.