U.S. track star Abby Steiner has reportedly filed a lawsuit against Puma, claiming their shoes contributed to numerous injuries that halted her career.

The 26-year-old, who is a two-time world champion, a four-time NCAA national champion and holds the U.S. indoor record for the 200m and 300m sprints, claims in the lawsuit that the shoe designs, as well as the carbon fiber plate, and/or nitrofoam technology, “changed the foot and ankle mechanics during running that may contribute to or increase the risk of injury.”

According to the complaint filed in Middlesex County (Massachusetts) Superior Court, Steiner alleges the products “are unsafe, unreasonably dangerous, defective, and capable of causing injury and harm to consumers during ordinary, anticipated and foreseeable uses.”

She has also sued the Mercedes-Benz Formula 1 team, which assisted in the design of the Puma shoes.

Steiner said the shoes led to severe foot injuries, resulting in five surgeries to date and “forced retirement” as an elite athlete. She is seeking more than $1.25 million, including hospital expenses and documented lost wages and demanded a jury trial.

Four of the alleged defective products cited in the complaint are the Deviate Nitro Elite 2 and 3, EvoSpeed Tokyo Nitro, EvoSoeed Tokyo Nitro 400M, and any others that utilize the plate or foam.

Puma began sponsoring Steiner in 2022. The University of Kentucky alum used the shoes in competitions and for training, stating in the lawsuit she wore them “with the reasonable expectation that they were properly designed, developed, tested, manufactured, marketed, promoted, advertised, sold and distributed free from defects of any kind, and that they were safe for their intended, foreseeable use during training and competitions.”

Though she was on the U.S. teams that swept the 4×100 and 4×400 at the 2023 summer’s World Championships, she began sustaining foot injuries starting in that year, undergoing at least three procedures from then into 2025.

In 2024, she posted about her struggles on Instagram, saying that while training during an Olympic year, “I was often limping around before and after my practices and getting through on sheer willpower to fulfill a lifelong dream.”

Steiner, who last competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2024, had to pull out of several tune-up competitions leading up to the Olympic Trials because she could not get through walking or jogging drills in training. She finished sixth in the 200-meter dash at the trials, well short of the Olympic team.

She stepped away from competitive sprinting in August at the age of 25 and is currently studying at the University of South Carolina for a master’s degree in exercise science.

In her lawsuit, Steiner claimed that the Puma shoes she wore were “unsafe, unreasonably dangerous” and “defective.” She also alleged that Puma and Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd. misled customers into believing the shoes were adequately and appropriately tested and reasonably safe for their normal, intended use.

She said Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd. also had control over the design, testing, manufacture, promotion of a variety of Puma footwear, including shoes mentioned in her complaint.

“To make the best spikes for our athletes, that comply with the regulations, we connected the engineers of Mercedes AGM Petronas F1 with our best footwear people,” Puma’s CEO Bjorn Gulden at the time said in a 2021 news release, which announced the Mercedes partnership. “With the input from our athletes and their coaches, the team developed the best spikes PUMA has ever made.”

Steiner claims that Puma and Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd. were aware that the shoe designs and use of carbon fiber plate and/or Nitrofoam technology “altered the biomechanics of runners or the manner in which the stresses of running impact their bodies” and “caused bone stress injuries.”

“As a direct and proximate cause of defendants’ negligence and wrongful misconduct as described herein, plaintiff has suffered and will continue to suffer physical and emotional injuries and damages including past, present, and future pain and suffering, including the inability to compete in track and field at the national and Olympic levels,” the filing states.

The filing also states that Steiner “only recently discovered the offending instrumentality that caused her injuries” and that the “wrongful conduct and potential role played” by the shoe designs were “not apparent, evident or objectively ascertainable.”

Steiner is also suing on multiple different counts, including negligent products liability for manufacturing and design defects as well as failure to warn. There is a fourth count, the overarching umbrella of negligence, and the last two counts focus on breach of warranty, specifically merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.

Image of Abby Steiner courtesy of Puma SE