Mary Cain Was A Running Prodigy, Until Abuse Derailed Her Career

About this episode

Mary Cain discusses her experiences as a young athlete and the abuse she faced in the sports industry.

As a teenager Mary Cain was a running phenom. At 17, she ran the 800 in under two minutes, and broke numerous national high school records. She went pro that same year, to be coached by Alberto Salzar at Nike. But while Cain was winning accolades on the track, she was suffering deeply. In her new memoir, “This is Not About Running,” Cain, now a second year medical student at Stanford, recounts how Salazar and his team created a culture of abuse that ground down athletes like her. We talk to Cain about what lessons can be learned from her experience and her efforts to protect young athletes. Guests: Mary Cain, author, "This Is Not About Running;" former professional runner; second year medical student at Stanford Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Guest: Mary Cain

Topics covered

• athletics
• abuse in sports
• mental health
• memoir
• young athletes
• coaching

Keywords

• Mary Cain
• running prodigy
• abuse
• Nike
• Alberto Salazar
• memoir
• athlete protection

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Nike, Stanford

Books & works: This is Not About Running

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