Mary Cain's courageous op-ed (Read 277 times)

Mary Cain made a bad decision and continued to make bad decisions by staying in the program and not telling her parents sooner. Then she still tried to get back into the program when many people offered to help her. Is she a victim very likely with a bit of Stockholm syndrome too considering she very recently tried to get back into the program before it got shut down. Now the program is gone I guess the stockholdm syndrome hold was broken.  Any runner who skips school is a pulling a pin and juggling a grenade including Alison Felix. Go to school do your apprenticeship hone your craft, widen your experience.

 

People end up that way blaming everyone but themselves. Does Nike share blame yes, but not entirely there are a cast of other people that stood by and watch this happen. She should blame her parents for their lack of foresight, her dad's a doctor he could have been more involved reviewing her medical information her mom could have accompanied her live with there part time. Umm she went pro as a child you don't just turn your child over to the Agoge anymore and walk away. I'm sorry but me, my child you have to give me a job move my family across country so she has a support network. Sydney McLaughlin did it. As long as the salary is right get me a job as the janitor in Nike HQ so I can be there to support and maintain a relationship with my daughter/Child. Because if its worth it to have her in the program, its worth it to ensure she has some normalcy.NEw balance didnt put Sydney in some secret program they got her a collegiate coach who was also a woman so sh can guide her because she was still a young woman with only one year of college.

 

I remember watching Touhy parent say they will never let her do what Mary Cain did and that was 3 years ago before all of this broke. I had a tremendous love for Mary was excited she was a NY product like Nicole Blood and Samantha and so many others. But what Mary did with her parent permission was poor decision making. She could have joined so many great college programs and still made the Olympics hate to reference Sydney here again, (In high school nonetheless).

 

Mary cain was in high form (before Salazar) kicking serious adult butt. There is another thing that didn't come out when she was being amazing and running those fast times she was not being coached by Salazar . It was by John Henwood of Henwood Hounds. That tells you she didn't need Nike. One more thing and its a phenomenon I have studied and read widely and its called the curse of puberty. Many of the girls who lead races in sophmore years, never win in senior year and college due to biological changes. The only woman who won in both high school, college and adult national titles was Suzy Favor Hamilton and we all knew what it did to her mentally and she hacked off her breast to save a few pounds, in her memoir she says they made her uncomfortable because all men stared and it was the first thing she felt anyone saw.. These women put themselves under tremendous pressure both mentally and physically we have to change the way the whole system works. We have a habit of being Silo-ed instead of sharing when it comes to athletic performances or breakthroughs

 

Mary was at first slim lean and fast and I noticed she started to full out become a woman and the way Nike handled it was disgusting but I remember meeting Marielle Hall and she has a body more akin to a 400m runner but she still gets that beautiful body around the track she still top 5 American 5k/10k threat. So Mary just needed to be stronger and that growth and strength would have occurred in a 4 year D1 program. Look at Jordan another HS Phenom never won an outdoor XC title despite winning two in HS. Sara Reid from Villanova was a #3 on her Canadian HS team and she came to the US won two collegiate titles.

 

What happen to Mary is a shame and should not have happen but what do you expect they let a little girl go into a world where men don't understand the biological changes that women undergo. Its a learning lesson and its a mistake I hope we never see repeated. Sydney didnt make that mistake so this doesn't have to happen again.

 

I coach mostly women and I'm always encouraging them to use Garmin to track their periods so we can optimize their training.

We also send them articles on findings and trends and encourage them to read books like Roar and get the FitrWoman app. The more you know the better your success.

I can't imagine a more elaborate misunderstanding of Ms. Cain's complaint. Nike mistreated her. What is it that you're not getting?

Bonus points for referring  to a female's "beautiful body" in the context of this discussion.

 

I can't imagine a more elaborate misunderstanding of Ms. Cain's complaint. Nike mistreated her. What is it that you're not getting?

 

Bonus points for referring  to a female's "beautiful body" in the context of this discussion.

Do more research on the subject, instead of  taking a herd mentality. Really think about what went on here. No one is absolving Nike. She said it, I said it this didn’t have to end up like this. Sydney story is similar she turned down more money for a better fit. Mary is a victim here but the whole agoge thing, that’s on her parents. Her family failed her, like leaving her with uncle Chester.

https://www.si.com/track-and-field/2019/11/13/mary-cain-nike-oregon-project-toxic-culture-alberto-salazar-abuse-investigation

really good, balanced piece for anyone who hasn’t seen it ^

one of the most chilling details in her NYT piece was the description of the personnel all just being friends of Alberto, so that you had  nowhere to turn. Turns out even the „sports psychologist“ wasn’t even a licensed therapist and told Salazar everything the athletes told him.

 

One of the most chilling details is an adult stayed in a relationship that caused her physical and emotional scars lasting a lifetime because she thought it would make her the best at her job. Thankfully she left after years of the treatment she received. Unfortunately it probably ended her career as the top female athlete at her event. She even went back to him after she left. There is something different about a person who seeks out the horrible relationship a second time.

 

https://www.espn.com/olympics/trackandfield/story/_/id/28041355/top-athletes-join-mary-cain-sharing-tales-abuse-nike

 

Cain acknowledged looking to work with Salazar again, noting she did so because "when we let people emotionally break us, we crave their approval more than anything."

I can't tell what your tone is on this, but it seems like you're still blaming Cain?

Try watching "At the Heart of Gold" or listening to the "Believed" podcast if you are interested in understanding a little but more about how the dynamics work and play. Sports are not necessarily the same as jobs, in that the elite systems tend to be very closed and very exclusive. There is often not as much autonomy as you'd like to believe if you want to be "the best".

She’s also on the Clean Sport Podcast Talking to Kara Goucher about her experience.