Mary Cain sues Al Sal and Nike for $20 million over alleged abuse

Instead of being a whiney brat filing lawsuits why doesn't she go out and run a world record? If she was the best middle distance runner ever born like she seems to believe she should be able to bounce back with proper training and show the world she is the best that ever was and ever will be.

In reality she peaked before she was old enough to buy a beer and despite trying his best with tough love to shame her into performing better, and I am for public shaming 100% of the time, she was too mentally weak to respond

NECoach wrote:

Abdi Bile was a 1500m runner in college, not his mid-20's. Use a better example.

If people don't think that Salazar can coach 800 runners, why did Mary Cain want to run for him? If things were that bad when she was running for him, why did she try to go back, with the support of her parents? Is Salazar the only distance coach to care about weight? In "Running with the Buffalos", I seem to remember a lot of weight references from Wetmore. Seems unlikely that it was only addressed as an issue with the men's team. Lot of blaming going on from Mary's side, and no taking of responsibility from Dad or Mom.

This she should have focused on the 800 belief, often appears on LR, but Cain set HS records at 2-miles and 5000m and finished 2nd (or 3rd?) at NXN. Any coach with half a clue would think her best distance was 1500m.

The one thing that I would like to know if as she said this happened in front of people why have none of these people come forward to back up her story from the start? When the NYT article was first printed I remember a number of former NOP members posting they wish they would have known. So if teammates were not present than who was thee when she was shamed?

Yusef Scumm. wrote:

Chisel nuts wrote:

Yep, blame the victim. Typical behavior from misogynists.

Sarcastic humor ain’t your thing, huh?

Wise guy, eh? Daffy Duck type guy?

We know your type.

completely ridiculous wrote:

Next up wrote:

https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2021/10/distance-runner-mary-cain-sues-former-coach-alberto-salazar-nike-over-alleged-abuse.html

This is just gross. The world lost its mind when they allowed that idiot to sue abs win for the hot McDonald’s coffee that was spilled. That was the turning point.

That McDonalds lawsuit was actually kinda interesting and not as stupid as advertised. If I remember the suit was not that the person spilled coffee on themselves and decided to sue but the restaurant was negligent as it had the coffee at a temp that was way hotter then recommended and as a result when they did spill coffee on themselves it caused significantly more harm then it should have if it had been at a reasonable temp. Lots to argue there but not as simple as suing because you are a dolt who spilled coffee.

The lesson here will be can Mary prove that AlSal's actions were unreasonable and likely to do harm and did Nike support those actions. Should be interesting - my guess it is far too risky to go court and the settlement (likely far less than 20 Million) with a NDA will make us all wonder what happened to this in 5 years.

5 sections wrote:

The one thing that I would like to know if as she said this happened in front of people why have none of these people come forward to back up her story from the start? When the NYT article was first printed I remember a number of former NOP members posting they wish they would have known. So if teammates were not present than who was thee when she was shamed?

Some are probably reluctant to speak out. Did Rowbury or Moser ever actually comment on the public weigh-ins?

To NE coach & San Diego runner: People run all kind of events in hs &/or college. I raced 2 mile & 3200m in hs more than I raced 1/2mi. & 800m, but I was not better at 2 mile than 1/2 mile. What event did Abdi Bile participate in 1984 Olympics? Eight-hundred metres. No matter what Bile did or did not do in college, 1984, Bile and his coaches believed Bile was a superior 800m man, 1984. Mary Cain, 800m v. 5000m. At 16 or 17 years old, Cain was a 1:59.xx runner and not too much slower than Ajee Wilson at the time. Mary Cain at 16 or 17 was a near world class 800m runner. Mary Cain, even though competitive against other children her age, 5000m was NEVER an elite 5000m runner. To deny Mary Cain was a potentially great 800m runner as a teenager is to deny the facts.

Yusef Scumm. wrote:

Alleged word on the street is that Team Al is taking the offensive here.

To test the legal waters, several lawsuits were recently filed against family members.

Stay tuned……..

Someone sued Salazar’s family members ?

I’m not following what you’re saying

A bit of a tangent, but many posters believe Salazar did right by Cain and he had her focus on the 1500m.

Cain ran the equivalent of a guy running 8:40 in HS. Has there ever been a sub-9:00 runner that focused on the 800 after HS?

Flagpole wrote:

Some things:

1) The calls that Mary Cain didn't do anything post high school are flat wrong. She was amazing post high school...just not for a very long period of time.

It depends on what you mean by HS. She did some good things after leaving her HS team but nothing after what would have been her HS graduation.

Mary was the HS class of 2014. The fastest 1500 time she ran after 2014 was 4:09.08. She was one of the world's best in 2013, not in the same form in 2014 (but still won world jrs by opting for the 3k) and for all intents and purposes done by 2015.

This. It has been a source of so much humility for me to realize that I was completely wrong about this case for years. It sounds ridiculous. It wasn't

completely ridiculous wrote:

Next up wrote:

https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2021/10/distance-runner-mary-cain-sues-former-coach-alberto-salazar-nike-over-alleged-abuse.html

This is just gross. The world lost its mind when they allowed that idiot to sue abs win for the hot McDonald’s coffee that was spilled. That was the turning point.

Look up the actual facts of the McDonald’s hot coffee case. The coffee was unreasonably hot and it also caused the woman’s sweatpants to like fuse to her lower body, causing severe burns to her labia and thighs. I think cars also may not have had cup holders back when it happened so there was also nowhere for drivers to put their scalding hot cups of coffee.

SDSU Aztec wrote:

No, the jury will decide whether Salazar was reasonable in his treatment of Cain. If Salazar prescribed an unhealthy diet and told her it was necessary for her to become a world class athlete, should she be expected to reject the advice of probably the world's most famous distance coach?

To win the case, Salazar will need to prove that her goal weight was realistic and the diet was appropriate. What if whoever the experts at NOP were, analyzed Cain's body fat percentage and stated a minimum weight that would still be healthy, but Salazar wanted 10 pounds less?

So, if a coach sets a training goal that is too ambitious (i.e. too many miles per week, repeats done too fast, etc) is that coach subject to claims of abuse? If the coach sets an intermediary lifestyle goal that limits how an athlete spends their free time in a manner that the athlete finds stressful, is that coach subject to claims of abuse?

And, yes, a professional athlete, like a professional in any sector, should be expected to reject guidance/mentoring from a coach/supervisor that they find abrasive and should opt to move on sooner rather than later from any professional environment they find anxiety-inducing.

all joking aside ... wrote:

I was supposed to be an elite javelin thrower. My state, as is the case with most states did not have javelin throw as a standard high school event. I chose to run as my second choice. My mom cooked me a special diet so I would stay lean in hs. I got to college, ate the prison slop in chow hall and got chubby. Head XC coach didn't ridicule me in front of team. He called me into his office with exercise physiologist. Physiologist measured my body fat and put me on a special diet. If my college coach had the wisdom to quietly pull me aside, why couldn't Al Sal have done the same?

Good question. Sounds like your coach used a wise approach. Al Sal should have done the same. But I imagine you are a man. Even a science-driven approach, as your coach followed, would be no defense against the baying hounds of feminism if practiced on a lady athlete.

brien evans wrote:

I hope Nike leaves running. It's just constant bad press and how can you be competitive if you can't tell a runner they are overweight? Fat people don't win races.

You can hope in one hand and poop in the other put your hands together and you guess what you have.

Incredibly stupid comment that's not he was born out of the running world it won't be leaving you however don't let the door hit you in the proverbial on the way out.

hot coffee wrote:

This. It has been a source of so much humility for me to realize that I was completely wrong about this case for years.

I , for one , expect my coffee to be hot, after all we all know its a 'hot' drink. If you buy a coffee at a drive through, then expect it to be hot and take care.

You guys are the reason insurance is so expensive, because it is a trend being copied over the world. Bunch of opportunistic sooks

Next up wrote:

https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2021/10/distance-runner-mary-cain-sues-former-coach-alberto-salazar-nike-over-alleged-abuse.html

She has jumped the shark for sure, white entitlement City, everybody gets a trophy, if you don't make it you get a lawsuit, you get a lawsuit, everybody gets a lawsuit, because you can't take the feet gracefully.

Well he was probably wrong and insensitive to say those things on one level, on another level he was giving her the straight story if she wanted to be what she said she wanted to be, the best in the world.

But her body did not cooperate, her body type did not cooperate and as many predicate eventually it worked against her and ruined her running career - now she wants to bring that natural decline due to maturing female body on somebody else and make a profit from it.

I hope Nike fights this vigorously.

Being rude, for professional coaches, may eventually not be acceptable, but for most of us it's been a part of life with coaches, shake A leg slowpoke, suck it up princess, use it or lose it, get your ass up there with the rest...

She must not have gotten enough orange wedges at the end of workouts and Junior High School.

I put this on her parents, they encouraged her too much and she bought into it, she made a lot of money at a young age for it, and she got to go to college, and then she lost it all because of.... Nature.

Nature doesn't have a bank account, Nike does.

Why super $20 million dollars why not 200 million?

at this point I have no more sympathy for her, she's gone past her 15 minutes, and now she's going to turn people against her.

She's badly Miss playing, and badly over playing this whole thing.

Again I hope Nike vigorously defends this, and things come out about her phone for those on weaknesses and mistakes as an athlete as a person and as a teammate.

So far she's had a life on a scholarship and she doesn't want to go to work now, she needs to be stopped, she needs to grow up.

...and another point of this case is that 'fatness' has now become the accepted way, especially in USA, with Australia itself not far behind. One dare not even mention weight anymore. One can still understand the general fat popualtion's reaction to it, but an athlete should be welcoming any advantage that a coach can give her...otherwise take up a different sport.