Mary Cain running for the U.S. in the 3000-meter event at the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships in Eugene, Oregon, which she went on to win. Photo: Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images
Distance runner Mary Cain accused Nike and her former coach Alberto Salazar of abuse in a $20 million lawsuit filed this week, the Oregonian first reported.
Why it matters: Cain, 25, had a promising career, becoming in 2013 the youngest American athlete to make a World Championships team at age 17. She alleges in the suit that she faced sustained emotional abuse by Salazar after joining the Nike Oregon Project in 2012, AP noted Tuesday.
- She accuses Nike of knowing this and failing to intervene. Cain said it affected her physical and mental health.
What they're saying: Kristen West McCall, a Portland lawyer representing Cain, alleged that "Nike was letting Alberto weight-shame women, objectify their bodies, and ignore their health and wellbeing as part of its culture," according to multiple reports.
- "This was a systemic and pervasive issue. And they did it for their own gratification and profit," McCall added.
For the record: Neither Nike nor Salazar could immediately be reached for comment, but he has previously denied Cain's allegations, which came to international attention in November 2019, when she appeared in a New York Times video op-ed.
- Nike at the time described Cain's allegations as "deeply troubling" and "completely inconsistent with our values."
- The company announced in October 2019 that it was shuttering its Oregon athletic training and track program after Salazar was banned from the sport by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for trafficking banned substances.
- The United States Center for SafeSport issued Salazar with another ban in 2020 following sexual and emotional misconduct allegations and he was later indefinitely barred from athletics, Runners World reports.