Mary Cain Sues Nike, Coach Alberto Salazar For $20 Million

BEAVERTON, OR — When Mary Cain arrived as a 16 year old at the Nike Oregon Project to train under then legendary and now disgraced coach Alberto Salazar, she was considered a top prospect in the world of distance running. A few years later, she left, her career ended by injuries. Now she is suing Salazar and Beaverton-based Nike for $20 million.

In the suit filed Monday in Multnomah County Circuit Court and first reported by the Oregonian, Cain charges that Salazar was emotionally abusive and Nike did nothing to stop it. Her lawyers write in the suit that when she went to Nike's in-house sports psychologist and told him what was happening, adding that she had become depressed and was cutting herself, he did nothing except pass the information to Salazar.

Live in Beaverton? Click here to subscribe to our free breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox and mobile devices. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and download our free mobile app on Android or iPhone.

Salazar has denied the allegations, most of which first appeared in a video that Cain made for The New York Times almost two years ago.

Nike told Patch that while they don't "comment on ongoing litigation," they are "committed to positively affecting the future of sport for women and girls and we are doing more in this space than ever before."

When Cain started running professionally for Nike Oregon Project, she was already a star, having become the youngest United States track and field athlete to make a world championship team.

After a second place finish in the 1500m at the U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships, her career started declining.

In the suit, she makes it clear that she believes the decline is because of Salazar's coaching and how he treated her.

She said Salazar often told her that she was overweight, too fat. She said that he worked to control her food intake to the point where she was so hungry that she told food from teammates.