Have you ever imagined a world without any hypothetical situations?

Me, neither. So here it goes…

History has proven that sprinters who go unbeaten across the 100m and 200m, running the fastest times in the world in both events, typically land, at the very least, on the shortlist for consideration for the IAAF World Athlete of the Year award, if not with the gold statuette in their hands.

Will the fans and voters who determine the winner be willing to consider someone with a checkered PED history for track and field’s biggest honor, even though that person has not tested positive for any banned substances in nearly a decade, and is otherwise clearly deserving?

It’s a fair question to begin pondering, especially on the heels of American Justin Gatlin’s 200m victory Friday in a world-leading 19.68 at the Diamond League Herculis meeting in Monaco. The time is his fifth world-lead of the season and by far the fastest in a career that has essentially been reborn to a level of dominance rivaling his pre-suspension period.

This season, Gatlin has won both of his 200m races and all 11 100m races he has entered, logging four world leads, including a 9.80 that stands as the third-best clocking of his life.

If we were discussing Usain Bolt’s credentials in this context, with just four Diamond League meets on the calendar, the IAAF would already have a trophy with his name engraved on it.

 But we are dealing with Gatlin, who in 2006 returned a positive test for testosterone and was handed an eight-year ban from competition that was ultimately reduced to four years. He returned to competition in 2010 and has since qualified for two U.S. World Championships teams – winning 100m silver in Moscow last year – and the 2012 Olympic Team.

This season, in the absence of the injured Bolt, you could legitimately argue that Gatlin has been the biggest star in men’s track and field.

Yet in Monaco, Gatlin wasn’t even named the male athlete of the meet. That distinction went to Ukrainian high jumper Bohdan Bondarenko, who cleared 2.40m for the win but fell well short of the months-long billed attempt at breaking Javier Sotomayor’s world record of 2.45m.

That Monegasque snub can partly be attributed to politics – the renaissance in the men’s high jump has been the highlight of an otherwise non-descript season – but also partly to the fact that Gatlin, now four years into his “comeback,” remains one of the sport’s most controversial figures.

Before, during, and after his victory in the 100m at the Diamond League meeting in Lausanne, a race that also featured three others with doping histories – Americans Tyson Gay and Mike Rodgers and Pascal Mancini of Switzerland – Gatlin was the target of social media outrage over his continued participation and success in the highest-level meets.

Here is a small sampling:

@justingatlin Be humble in victory, you took drugs remember. Once a cheat always a cheat. Cant wait for it to come out again. #druggy

— Daniel Sliwinski (@dsliwinski90) July 3, 2014

Justin Gatlin has now just run 9.80 at the age of 32. Cheat and a fraud you aint fooling no one you drugged up prick @justingatlin

— RespectedGunnerHenry (@RespectedGunner) July 3, 2014

Congratulations Justin Gatlin on your season's best in Lausanne. Nobody will believe you did it fair but well done anyway. #whybother

— Alan Greenwood (@agreenwoodesq) July 3, 2014

Wow Tyson Gay and Justin Gatlin must really be uh........training hard...... ðŸÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ’‰ðŸÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ’Š

— Chad Noelle (@ChadNoelle) July 3, 2014

 British 800m runner Jenny Meadows told the BBC she is sickened by the inherent unfairness of athletes who have doped still being allowed to compete at the expense of “clean” athletes.

"You look at Tyson Gay and Justin Gatlin lining up last week in the 100-meter,” Meadows said. “It makes you feel sick because they are still getting sponsorship and prize money. It's not fair on the rest of us.” 

The thing that has always bothered me about Gatlin, and still does, is that he has never taken ownership of his doping positive. To this day, he maintains he didn't knowingly take steroids and claims a vengeful masseuse rubbed him with a steroid cream, causing the positive test.

I have a hard time buying sabotage stories when it comes to doping, but I am probably not alone in believing that Gatlin’s past indiscretions would be more widely forgiven if he borrowed a page from British sprinter Dwain Chambers’ book and made a full disclosure and heartfelt apology.

In order for the sport to survive, we need to believe that the performances we are witnessing are real and not artificially enhanced, which is hard to do when meets can trot convicted dopers out to the start line. In a perfect world, that would never happen because doping positives would carry with them a lifetime ban and track and field would be purged of dopers forever.

But WADA president Craig Reedle told the BBC that lifetime bans would not stand up to legal challenges in court. Thus the maximum penalty is likely to remain four years, which will leave a door open for them to return to competition.

Under that reality, Gatlin has served his sentence and, like it or not, is entitled to compete. And, though it may seem perplexing, when he competes at a higher level than anyone else, he should be eligible for all the rewards that come along with that, including the IAAF Athlete of the Year.

What do you think? Join the conversation below.