Amateur athletics has been a hot topic on these boards because of the recent issues with the NCAA.  But the Olympic sports have been fighting this fight for years and years. 

Jesse Owens was stripped of his ability to compete in the Olympics after racing animals for money.

Steve Prefontaine and Bill Bowerman famously fought for athlete rights when the AAU would micromanage athletes in a way that was beneficial for their organization's bottom line and not in the interest of the athletes.

Well those battles still aren't won.  Nick Symmonds, who - having won 5 of 6 US championships in the 800m - is among the most dominant American athletes of all time, will be left off the US team at the upcoming world championships despite winning the trials and US championship.  He is being left off because he refused to sign an agreement with the USATF that directed him to not pack any clothing items that aren't US national team or Nike branded.  It would have specifically prohibited him from TRAINING in anything but Nike gear.  All of this is despite the fact that he is sponsored by Brooks and is paid to represent their brand.

The USATF does not pay athletes to represent the team.  In fact only the sponsors pay the athletes for qualifying and running at these types of events.  So essentially Brooks is paying for him to wear Nike in front of a world wide audience.  I understand that for competition they must wear the national team's attire, but training? Seriously?