Explosive New York Times article: Mary Cain breaks silence about NOP

^ Godwin seal of thread approval

txRUNNERgirl wrote:

opportunistic pathogen wrote:

I really don't buy this story.

It's complete opposite of what other athletes say about Alberto being like father to them.

Smells fishy here

I've said it once and I'll say it again. It's a red flag for a professional adult athlete to call their coach a father figure.

Agreed.

Hello. My PR included statements like "he probably broke local, state, national or international laws". That would have been an amazing rescue.

Troll detector wrote:

Hi rekrunner!

Good thing that cheat got finally banned. All your PR didn't rescue him, fortunately.

20-20 hindsight is always easier, but I'm generally not in favor of young athletes going "pro" early.

Body shaming, broken bones, and psychological depression should not be part of what it takes to become elite -- that doesn't seem to embody the "spirit" of sport.

Not much room at the top wrote:

Not everyone is cut out for the rigor of being a world champion, both physically and mentally. I look at Mary in a similar light as Andrew Luck who was ultimately not equipped for the long term grind of the NFL.

Absurd. He kicked ass for years and made tens of millions of dollars. Not quite the same situation.

Bad Wigins wrote:

so who's the registered poster always on about NOP's magic strong-skinnies? Oh yeah, me.

Can this finally be where their secret method for peak performance while underweight is revealed? That's the main ingredient to their success, and the root of their attempt to compete with the people who grew up in the hungriest countries on Earth and are naturally lightweight.

Their big US-born successes - Rupp and Centro - who ate mucho food growing up, were lab-engineered to go full-throttle while starving. Native east Africans Hassan and Farah, who spent their crucial childhood years NOT eating mucho food, closer to nada, and already skeleton-skinny before joining NOP, presumably used the same methods and became INVINCIBLE.

HOW??? Out with it already, legal or illegal. I gotta know.

+1

Nike lawyers will take the route of most litigation and fees.

Which means they will attack the athlete, or the enemy, using every manipulation of the truth, which is to lie, in a believable fashion, that is in a court of law.

But these people have been living in their bubble chamber so long they have no idea the direction of up and down.

Nike is going to make enemies of women in general, as the spat goes to the next level, which it will, as the Nike lawyers kick the hornets nest.

Instead of takling with Cain and looking at her issues, the lawyers are going full throttle to damage the Nike brand, arrogant, devious, slanderous, vindictive.

I mean, why is Nike taking so much crap on these boards. Letsrun readers somehow come out of the blue hating Nike.

Nike inspires hatred.

I'm pretty sure I've personally driven about 10k, people from this rotten brand.

You too can make a difference.

Get rid of Nike.

Smash em.

Somebody do an article about their Chinese slave labor factories in China, which fuel sponsorship of "free speech: LeBron.

End Nike.

Surprise! wrote:

txRUNNERgirl wrote:

I've said it once and I'll say it again. It's a red flag for a professional adult athlete to call their coach a father figure.

Agreed.

+2

Truth!

This same video could have been made by hundreds or even thousands of runners who have run in d-1. She ran pro like times as a 16 year old so everyone thought she was ready to be with mature, post college studs and that was crazy. Not only did she skip college she skipped her last year of hs. D1 a d pro distance running is sink or swim (most sink) in the best of conditions but the way she did it, plus the move across the country, was crazy. I put a lot of blame for sending the kid on the parents. Salazar’s blame is his philosophy that runners that young are ready (he has pointed to the young Kenyans in the past). He obviously had great success with men and women but Cain was the first that was so young to enter the meat grinder that is pro running. Hope her parents put the money in the bank.....

Surprise! wrote:

Not much room at the top wrote:

Not everyone is cut out for the rigor of being a world champion, both physically and mentally. I look at Mary in a similar light as Andrew Luck who was ultimately not equipped for the long term grind of the NFL.

Absurd. He kicked ass for years and made tens of millions of dollars. Not quite the same situation.

I never said she was as good at her respective sport as he was. Just saying that her body broke down ( like his) and maybe, just maybe she doesn't have the physical and mental constitution to be a world champion. Most of us don't.

Now flame away...

gdeegz wrote:

Bitterness wrote:

Mary has chosen the path of vindictiveness. She is not mentally healthy. When she moves on with her life and realizes her own failings and takes responsibility for her own decisions, only then can she start to become healthy.

You sound like a sociopath. You are scum of the earth. Literal trash.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

No, Mary has chosen to make this like something out of the Washington swamp or Hollywood. Look, she was faced with an overzealous coach and she got out of the intense atmosphere which was smart. Now what? Rather than complaining and accusing and possibly suing has she signed on with another better coach and sponsor? She can be an example of how to do it right but right now is looking to destroy Alberto and Nike. Not kind, not necessary.

txRUNNERgirl wrote:

opportunistic pathogen wrote:

I really don't buy this story.

It's complete opposite of what other athletes say about Alberto being like father to them.

Smells fishy here

I've said it once and I'll say it again. It's a red flag for a professional adult athlete to call their coach a father figure.

Not always.

Not a big issue if Jakob Ingebritsen does.

Similarly, not an issue if Emma Coburn does. Well. Not a *big* issue. Whatever floats your boat.

Interesting piece by NYT.

I've been thinking about her claims of abuse with respect to training methodology.

First, with respect to competitiveness, by far your most mileage comes from the basics that are accessible to most everyone. However, the difference between a champion runner and just a good elite runner is barely a whisper.

Thus, in the absence of sound science, it seems many elite groups like NOP grind through many athletes, trying a lot of different things, hoping something will stick now and then.

However, weight is a decisive factor. Some athletes, of course, won't be able to sustain the low weight + intense training, and they'll crash out of the program as a result. For groups like NOP, I imagine that's just a part of the calculus, which is something any potential recruit must keep in mind and plan accordingly.

Groups like NOP aren't trying to develop good runners, they're trying to develop champion runners. That entails risk, and at the elite level, no matter the sport, the required training is, almost by necessity, unhealthy or poor for longevity.

If a training group is upfront about dangerous or risky training methodologies to any potential recruit, then so be it. AlSal is clearly willing to engage in risky or suspect training methods; indeed, he did more experimentation on himself than any of his athletes.

Bad Wigins wrote:

Native east Africans Hassan and Farah, who spent their crucial childhood years NOT eating mucho food, closer to nada

I can sort of buy Hassan, as she left Ethiopia as a 15yo - but even the, 15 is young to be saying her path was set. But Farah was raised in the UK from the age of 8. Are the years 0-8 the crucial ones for building middle distance runners? In which case, Nike had better start farming children.

Some of you sound like you’d love an androgel rub down by ol sal sal.

rekrunner wrote:

My PR included statements like "he probably broke local, state, national or international laws".

That would have been an amazing rescue.

That's a nice way of describing a criminal, not an amazing rescue.

And let's not forgot that this drug cheat evidently broke WADA rules, for which he got finally banned.

Has Paula come to Salazar's rescue yet again?

Frankly, I find it revolting how some here stand up for and openly defend this disgusting abusive drug cheat.

Note to myself: It's best to stay away from such posters, whether they really support such cheats or are trolling along.

rekrunner wrote:

20-20 hindsight is always easier, but I'm generally not in favor of young athletes going "pro" early.

Body shaming, broken bones, and psychological depression should not be part of what it takes to become elite -- that doesn't seem to embody the "spirit" of sport.

This is why the sport needs to be made strictly amateur again asap. Becoming professional never embodied the spirit of the sport and the sport needs to get back to its roots it is to survive in the long term.

Good to hear that she has now figured out how to become a world champion. From the interview, it seems that she has figured out how to become a world champion without having super super low BMI. (Which Salazar never figured out). That’s certainly a breakthrough in coaching. I expect great things from her this summer, now that she has been away from Salazar for 4 years. Sub 3:55?

I hope that she now teaches others how to achieve that too.

qaz wrote:

gdeegz wrote:

You sound like a sociopath. You are scum of the earth. Literal trash.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

No, Mary has chosen to make this like something out of the Washington swamp or Hollywood. Look, she was faced with an overzealous coach and she got out of the intense atmosphere which was smart. Now what? Rather than complaining and accusing and possibly suing has she signed on with another better coach and sponsor? She can be an example of how to do it right but right now is looking to destroy Alberto and Nike. Not kind, not necessary.

You are missing the point. Salazar is an abusive coach/man. And Nike has chosen to back him. Doesn’t matter how Mary and it others reacted/responded. He did these actions. It’s simple. It is absolutely necessary that she speak out. To create awareness so that others learn from her experience.

Alberto destroyed himself.