Everyone loves it when others notice their talent, right? We know, hardly anything can top that feeling. This, for a track & field athlete, often means getting a nod from a sponsor. But recognition can come at a cost. And it is the cost of giving in to the provider’s demands. And that is exactly what happened with America’s fastest girl in 2019 when Nike’s ways started taking a toll on her.

We’re talking about none other than Mary Cain. By 2013, she’d started to prove she was very able, setting new national high school and American junior records in the 1500m. Can you imagine, in two months, she toppled a 41-year-old national record in the mile and a 22-year-old one in a two-mile distance? Well, she was a straight A-grade student! No wonder Nike signed her the same year as a track & field athlete as part of their Oregon Project.

While Mary Cain would have jumped at the thought of joining the best track team in the world, that bubble burst soon. When she joined coach Alberto Salazar and his all-male coaching staff at the Nike World Headquarters, Cain was training with the best athletes in the world. But, instead of progressing, she confessed in 2019 that “I was emotionally and physically ab*sed by a system designed by Alberto and endorsed by Nike.”

Things started taking a concerning turn for the track & field athlete. And she was expected to get ‘thinner and thinner and thinner.’ Also, there was a lack of certified staff on the team, with no sports psychologist or nutritionist to advise her better. Cain recalls, “It was just a bunch of people who were Alberto’s friends. ” What’s worse? Whenever she could not hit the 114-pound figure he’d set for her, the coach would publicly shame Cain for being overweight.

Instead of being a role model for other teen girls, Cain had hit her lowest. She was losing races before even starting them because, in her head, she wasn’t thinking about the timing on the clock but the number on the scale. However, soon, the youngest American track & field athlete to make a World Championship realized that if women are forced to push beyond what they are capable of at a given age, the risk of RED syndrome amplifies. That’s after she unfortunately broke five different bones. And her body simply wasn’t producing enough estrogen to maintain bone health.

By 2019, Cain remarked that she was depressed, had developed an eating disorder as well as anxiety, and was cutting herself. All of this forced her to reach out to her parents and eventually quit the team. She even filed a $20 million lawsuit against Nike and her ex-coach, Alberto Salazar. As ESPN reported back then, Nike wasn’t commenting on the issue. Nor was Salazar being able to be contacted immediately after. But the verdict came sooner than anyone could have thought.

Track & field runner Mary Cain’s lawsuit against Nike settled

In 2023, the Guardian reported that the case had been settled, as per the court documents. The settlement terms and amount were not released. But it is believed to involve millions of dollars. Also, Salazar, who was sanctioned a 4-year ban in 2019 for surpassing the anti-doping rules, accepted that he went a little too far with his methods. “On occasion, I may have made comments that were callous or insensitive over years of helping my athletes through hard training.” Although he did apologize if he hurt any athlete in the process.

But a pattern had become visible amidst all this. Remember when track & field athlete Allyson Felix announced her pregnancy and Nike slashed her contract by a whopping 70%? People disrespected the runner, claiming she wouldn’t be able to protect her earnings. This is because she would not be able to perform up to a set standard in the months surrounding her childbirth.

That’s when Felix decided to exit. The mega shoe brand has come under the spotlight for its toxic policies once again. And it has already happened multiple times over the past few years. And they have lost some great talent to it. What do you think of this? Let us know below!