Marry Cain who is a distance runner is about to sue Nike and her ex-coach saying that they mentally abused her for years and have regularly humiliated her for her breast size and backside. She’s suing them for $20 million.
Mary Cain, who is a 25-year-old New York native, joined Nike’s Oregon Project when she was just 16-year-old phenom in 2012. She also filed the lawsuit against Alberto Salazar who is her former coach and the sports apparel giant Monday in Multnomah County Circuit Court, as per what the Oregonian reported previously.
According to what was filed, it says that Salazar was obsessed with Cain’s weight, he would compulsively keep a check on her food intake and would also force her to weigh herself in front of everyone.
“Salazar told her that she was too fat and that her breasts and bottom were too big,” the lawsuit alleges.
Salazar was also accused by Cain of making her so hungry that she had to steal energy bars from her teammates.
According to Cain’s lawsuit, the woman once dubbed the “fastest girl in America” turned to her parents for support, but Salazar grew tired of the interference.
“He prevented Cain from consulting with and relying on her parents, particularly her father, who is a doctor,” said Kristin West McCall, a Portland-based attorney representing the once-rising track star.
Cain, who was the youngest American to make a World Championships team at the age of 17, detailed the alleged abuse in a heartbreaking video for the New York Times in 2019.
“I joined Nike because I wanted to be the best female athlete ever,” Cain said. “Instead, I was emotionally and physically abused by a system designed by Alberto and endorsed by Nike.”
She also said that, Nike’s all-male staff was convinced that Cain needed to get “thinner and thinner and thinner.”
Salazar publicly shamed Cain if she didn’t get down to 114 pounds.