The really shocking thing about that book review is that the reviewer appears to take at face value everything that Cain says. I have no intention of buying the book, but I would like to hear what Cain says about her own parents' role in her life, her own decision to forego a serious college education to focus on her athletic career, her own attempt to return to Salazar's coaching after so many setbacks and so much alleged abuse, and so many other matters that might give an objective observer reason not to take everything she says at face value.
Mary Cain is now studying at Stanford Medical School as an M2 and expecting to graduate in 2029 according to the profile linked below. Did she for some time "forego a serious college education?"
Yes, she did. Are you not familiar with her college education? And do you not understand that she did so solely for the purpose of focusing on her athletic career and living near her coach Alberto Salazar?
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there's likely a lot of truth to what she's saying, but this is a story that deserves to be heard from all sides. im very interested in what she has to say, but not sure I'm gonna bother looking into it if the other sides aren't also represented in some form.
I doubt that we’ll hear anything from Salazar so it won’t be from all sides. I don’t think there will be anything new of consequence in the book and it won’t be a best seller.
her parents were involved, obviously, and were interested in nothing other than getting the biggest dollar amount they could. Nothing else mattered.
I'll be interested to see if there's any counterpoint coming out.
Cla$$ic Bronxville. Can we all agree that her parents are the biggest villains in all this?
There won't be any counterpoint, because like all other mature, responsible adults, everyone else has moved on from this. Per other posts, Mary is either in the midst of medical school or has already finished school and is practicing medicine....quite a demanding lifestyle, worthy of respect, yet she still can't move on and get on with her life??
I'll give Mary Cain the benefit of the doubt on this one. Girls are nasty to each other and I've seen it on the high school and college levels. Throw in Bronxville being a fairly wealthy area adds in snobbish parents and their kids being brats.
I agree that she ought to be given the benefit of the doubt here. This kind of stuff is unfortunately very common.
But at the same time I think Mary Cain tends to be a little dramatic about what she's gone through. Everyone deals with overbearing coaches, grief from teammates, etc.
She makes it seem like she was just a twist of fate away from being the greatest female runner ever, if only evil Alberto hadn't been involved. But it's never that simple. Everyone has to deal with resistance on the way.
Regardless if she had gone with Alberto, or went to the NCAA like everyone else, or gone pro with another coach, the odds of her winning Olympic medals or whatever would've been overwhelmingly unlikely. You need out-of-this-world talent + insane mental grit + perfect training + no bad injuries + a ton of plain old luck.
Mary Cain was/is extremely talented but didn't seem to have the grit or the training chops, and was also very injury-prone. Not a good combination especially considering she only proved her talent against Americans and had only a single notable international result.
I think it's most likely that she was an extremely good high schooler who simply didn't have what it takes to win Olympic medals (there is nothing wrong with that—after all, only 3 people out of 8 billion have what it takes) and just hasn't been able to get over that. So instead she retreats into blaming the people she views as responsible.
It is unfortunately a very sad story.
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She wasn't bullied because of her success, she was called out for being a terrible teammate when her success went to her head and she stopped treating her peers with respect. The yearslong smear campaign she's waged against the team and the beloved coach (who no one else had issues with) is disproportionate to the issues she's had with girls on the team. And rich of her to accuse parents of bullying when her parents had instances of showing up to practice and screaming at the coach in front of the team for not giving their daughter special treatment. It's time to move on Mary and stop profiting off of a false narrative.
I refuse to let Mitchell’s name be dragged through the mud like this. “Mitch” was probably on of the most well known and loved teachers/coaches in both Bronxville history and New York State history. At times the women’s track team had upwards of 80 girls in a school of only ~100 students per grade which goes to show how much people wanted to be coached by him.
While I won’t speak to her specific situation I can speak to my own. I had a lot of success on the team and I know I had that success thanks to Mitch’s coaching and the support of my teammates. I never felt bullied by any of the older girls on the team because of my success. I joined the team when I was young and quiet, and I was welcomed to team dinners, given rides home from practice, and overall included.
This situation is self-inflicted and has continued to be blown out of proportion.
It is not that I am not trying to understand what you are not saying but what you are saying may not be what you are not implying despite not saying it.
I was on the Bronxville high school girls track and XC team with Mary for years. Obviously, she was the best runner on the team and we were so grateful for what she did for our team and how she motivated us all to be better.
Our experience was that she actively tried to separate herself from our team. She did not want to wear the matching team gear, did not want to join in on social events, etc. Naturally, that created occasional conflict (though there were never any fights or confrontations). We always got the sense that her parents were behind her separation from the team - of course take this with a grain of salt because no one knows for sure. She was our friend and teammate, and all of a sudden she wasn’t and we didn’t understand why.
For the record - our coach was a wonderful man who cared for Mary and all of us very much. He looked out for us, encouraged us to be the best we could be, and fostered an environment of friendship and camaraderie. He did not turn a blind eye, because the reality was there was no bullying that took place.
Wishing Mary the best in her future endeavors and hoping she is in a better place now!
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Another reason why girls shouldn't be allowed in the military, positions of influence, corporate roles etc.
Rather than acknowledge a high performer and be willing to fall in line to win they proceed to cut each other down in dramatic fashion and push her off the team. It's in girls DNA. Men are way more likely to form cohesive teams than can win. Sure there are exceptions but for the most part men form tighter teams that can win and execute.
Another reason why girls shouldn't be allowed in the military, positions of influence, corporate roles etc.
Rather than acknowledge a high performer and be willing to fall in line to win they proceed to cut each other down in dramatic fashion and push her off the team. It's in girls DNA. Men are way more likely to form cohesive teams than can win. Sure there are exceptions but for the most part men form tighter teams that can win and execute.
The team was cohesive and had and incredible amount of success with many high performers on the team absent Mary.
I don’t know what kind of training arrangement Cain had, but I have coached a girl who was near the top of the state, and who benefitted from running with the boys instead of the girls. She could handle their easy run pace and wasn’t exactly dead last among them during speed work either, plus she was all for it. The other girls didn’t bully her in my opinion, but for some odd reason they did not take kindly to her running with a different group and they were not real friendly toward her either. I don’t claim to understand the psychology but I could see other girls resenting the superstar.
But as others say, this is one side of the story only.
Sounds like they were cliques on her HS team and she was the outsider. Maybe also some jealousy of her talent, fame. This happens in every single upscale neighborhood in America. It's part of the growth process: navigating difficult social situations.