About this "drug cheat Gatlin" stuff...
The thing about drug cheating is that it can come in many forms, one of which is intentional cheating.
That type of conduct is evidence of moral turpitude, but I wouldn't say that it rises to the level of malum in se...but nonetheless, it indicates a capacity of character.
For some things that really are malum in se, like child sexual assault or murder, for our continued safety and for the safety of others we "brand" people according to a demonstrated capacity to be immoral in the extreme.
Nobody here wants anyone convicted of criminal child sexual assault living next door to a home with kids in it.
Does Gatlin's offense rise to the level where it is socially useful to label him in this way, even though the basic offense was not sufficiently egregious to warrant criminal sanctions?
It might, IF the performance-enhancing effect of 'roids is shown to endure for a long time, OR IF it can be shown that convicted drug cheats exhibit a high rate of recidivism, and if there is some type of useful response to the situation, like increased vigilance, or selection of athletes in the event that there is a tie, or limited resources to go around.
I don't think it is socially useful here on letsrun to continually call Gatlin "drug cheat", ESPECIALLY when the guys he is beating are the likes of Rodgers and Bolt.
Instead of the headline "drug cheat Gatlin wins in Rome", you might as well write that "drug cheat Bolt loses in Rome", or "drug cheat Rodgers loses to drug cheats Bolt and Gatlin in Rome".
If you apply it to one, you should apply it equally to all. And don't give me any of the "he never tested positive" rhetoric about Bolt--there is plenty enough circumstantial evidence to prove to many, including myself, that he has used.
So it doesn't seem useful to me, as it doesn't meaningfully differentiate Gatlin from other athletes in the race.
Apart from that, it doesn't meaningfully help interpret his performance, either. This was a race that reflects cleanly-achievable times. Gatlin's time adjusts to 9.98, Bolt's to 9.99 UNLESS it is demonstrated that these 2 performance are attributable to drugs, Gatlin's in particular, then calling him a "drug cheat" doesn't provide any explanatory benefit in interpreting the performance.
Since use of the "drug cheat" moniker doesn't seem to me to have any functional utility WRT this race, the only justification seems to be the meting out of continuing punishment. And you know what? Even though it might not be savory or appealing, I think that's OK. Everybody is affected differently by these things.
Gatlin, Rodgers, and Bolt have all doped, so in my mind they are all "dopers". Whatever.
What I do believe, though, is that for me personally there is less pleasure taken from a race between athletes like these, than there is from one between, say, guys like Lemaitre, Collins, Vicaut, Thompson, etc.
With those other guys, I don't have to suspend disbelief.
In a race with times like these, it's not too hard for me to let bygones be bygones. For me, this is another example of a believable, reasonable race, and I hope that we see more of them.