Tiger Woods was a Nike man when details of his numerous affairs became public. He still is.

Nike stood with Lance Armstrong throughout his career until the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency came up with enough evidence to convince the world of his cheating. He was then dropped.

Marketing specialist Adam Handt said Nike should do something immediately such as suspending its relationship with Pistorius because of the severity of the accusations against him.

Vorhaus said a brand used to like having just one person represent it, but those days are gone, and deals are struck with many athletes -- from both sexes, from across races and from across national regions and from different countries.

In this marketing world, Vorhaus said, with many athletes sponsored by and representing Nike, it is also easier to shake off the bad publicity when a star falls.