Once a teenage phenomenon destined for world domination, Mary Cain is suing Nike and her former coach after making alarming claims.
A former long-distance runner has filed an $AUD27 million lawsuit against her ex-coach and Nike, alleging years of abuse.
Mary Cain, who qualified for the 2013 World Championships as a 17-year-old, was part of the Nike Oregon Project coached by Alberto Salazar — a program that gathered a collection of the fastest runners in the world to train full-time at the company’s headquarters.
Once the fastest girl in America, Cain was a teen prodigy that broke countless national records, including becoming the youngest athlete from the United States to compete at a World Championships at that 2013 meet in Moscow.
But in 2019 she rocked athletics by opening up about Salazar’s alleged behaviour, claiming he led her to self-harm and thoughts of taking her own life.
Cain, now 25, filed the lawsuit this week which alleges Salazar criticised her for her weight.
“Salazar told her that she was too fat and that her breasts and bottom were too big,” the lawsuit alleges, as reported by The Oregonian.
Cain also alleges Salazar controlled her food intake, forcing her to steal nutrition bars from other athletes.
A lawyer representing Cain, Kristen West McCall, told The Oregonian Salazar stopped Cain from getting help.
“He prevented Cain from consulting with and relying on her parents, particularly her father, who is a doctor,” McCall alleges.
“Nike was letting Alberto weight-shame women, objectify their bodies, and ignore their health and wellbeing as part of its culture,” she added.
“This was a systemic and pervasive issue. And they did it for their own gratification and profit.”
Salazar’s former assistant Steve Magness said he had witnessed similar behaviour at the Oregon Project.
“At one point I was told I needed to make a female athlete lose weight,” he said. “When I showed data on her body fat being low already, I was told: ‘I don’t care what the science says I know what I see with my eyes. Her butt is too big’.
“There was no adult in the room, looking after health and wellbeing. When the culture pushes to the extreme, this is what you get.”
Salazar, who was banned for doping offences in 2019, has previously denied the claims, saying he “never encouraged her, or worse yet, shamed her, to maintain an unhealthy weight”.
Nike has not commented on the lawsuit.
This story first appeared on the NZ Herald and was reproduced with permission
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