Nike investigates claims of ‘emotional and physical abuse’ at Oregon Project
Nike has said it will conduct an investigation into the former US running prodigy Mary Cain’s claims she did not have a period for three years and ended up self-harming because of the constant pressure to lose weight put on her by the Oregon Project coach, Alberto Salazar.
The announcement came after Cain received the backing of several former Oregon Project athletes, who said Salazar had also been obsessed with their weight. Another, the Canadian 10,000m runner Cam Levins, issued a public apology on Twitter saying he was sorry he had not looked out for Cain when they were teammates.
Cain, who joined the Oregon Project as a 16-year-old, told the New York Times on Thursday that Salazar had demanded she drop her weight to 8st 2lb and that she received no support when she went into a downward spiral that led to her breaking five bones because of osteoporosis and have suicidal thoughts. “Instead I was emotionally and physically abused by a system designed by Alberto and endorsed by Nike,” she said.
Salazar, who plans to appeal a fouryear ban for anti-doping offences, has denied many of Cain’s claims but has not responded to requests from the Guardian for comment. However, the
US athlete Amy Yoder Begley, who ran in the 2008 Olympics, said she was “kicked out” of the Oregon Project after being told she was “too fat” and had
“the biggest butt on the start line” after finishing sixth in the 10,000m at the 2011 US championships.
“I have first-hand experience with what Mary Cain described,” she said. “I have a lot of respect for her in speaking out. I was older and at the end of my career; I can’t imagine being Mary’s age and going through it alone.”
Another former Nike Oregon Project athlete Kara Goucher retweeted a story from her husband, Adam, who said that after the 2011 Boston marathon when she finished fifth in 2:24 only six months after giving birth, “both Alberto and Darren Treasure went up to my mother-in-law and sister-in-law and said: ‘Don’t tell Kara but she is still too heavy. She needs to lose her baby weight if she wants to be fast again.’ No celebration on her tremendous run, just judgment on her body.”
Levins said he was sorry for not doing more. “You deserve an apology for not having a person who was looking out for you in the right ways during your time in Portland at the Oregon
Project. I wish I had been that person,” he tweeted.
Levins added: “I knew our coaching staff was obsessed with your weight loss, emphasising it as if it were the single thing standing in the way of great performances. I knew because they spoke of it openly among other athletes.
“You may not get the apology from those you should but I am sorry as your teammate for what happened. I understand both the arbitrary number goal placed on you and constant push to lose weight. I promise to be part of the culture change you are progressing by sharing your story.”
In a statement Nike said it had not heard Cain’s complaints until Thursday: “We take the allegations extremely seriously and will launch an immediate investigation to hear from former
Oregon Project athletes. At Nike we seek to always put the athlete at the centre of everything we do and these allegations are completely inconsistent with our values.
“These are deeply troubling allegations which have not been raised by Mary or her parents before. Mary was seeking to rejoin the Oregon Project and Alberto’s team as recently as April of this year and had not raised these concerns as part of that process.”