Nike and Alberto Salazar settled a $20 million lawsuit filed by long-distance runner and former Nike ambassador Mary Cain. Terms were not disclosed.
In the lawsuit filed in 2021, Cain alleged that she suffered emotional and physical abuse from Salazar, who was the coach of the now-defunct Nike Oregon Project (NOP), claiming that there was a lack of oversight by Nike.
Cain won the 2014 junior world championship in the 3000 meters, running for NOP from 2013 to 2016. She left the program around the same time that U.S. runner Kara Goucher and coach Steve Magness were alleging potential doping and abuse. Goucher also claims that Salazar tried to kiss her on a flight.
In 2019, Cain told The New York Times she was “emotionally and physically abused by a system designed by Alberto and endorsed by Nike.” She spoke out shortly after other decorated Nike female runners Alysia Montaño and Allyson Felix criticized Nike’s lack of maternity benefits for sponsored athletes.
The resolution of the lawsuit ends one of Nike’s highest-profile legal battles.
Cain and other athletes accused Salazar of body or weight shaming of female athletes.
Salazar, in the past, denied the charges. Attorneys for Nike and Salazar did not respond to requests for comments.
