Distance runner Mary Cain files $20M lawsuit against Nike, her former coach

A once-promising distance runner filed a $20 million lawsuit against a former coach and their employer, Nike, accusing them of inflicting years of emotional and physical abuse.

Mary Cain, 25, said she suffered long-term and permanent injuries, "loss of dignity, pride, self-esteem, developed an eating disorder, major depressive disorder" and post-traumatic stress due to training under coach Alberto Salazar at the sports giant's Nike Oregon Project, according to the lawsuit filed Monday in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

Salazar callously controlled every aspect of Cain's life for four years and Nike should have warned her about the coach's "emotional and physically abusive behavior with female athletes," Kristen West McCall, a Portland lawyer representing Cain, said.

Salazar "consistently made comments to plaintiff about her appearance, her weight and her body," the civil complaint said. "Salazar told her she was too fat and that her breasts and bottom were too big."

McCall added: "Salazar and other Nike employees often made sexist and objectifying comments about female athletes, focusing on their appearance and weight, while they did not make similar comments to or regarding male athletes."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/distance-runner-mary-cain-sues-ex-coach-nike-20m-over-n1281418
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Salazar has received a lifetime ban from coaching for emotional and physical abuse.