Mary Cain

At 27 years old, Mary Cain has this physical status:

Mary Cecilia Cain (born May 3, 1996) is a professional American middle distance runner from Bronxville, New York.

Cain was the 2014 World Junior Champion in the 3000 meter event.

She is the youngest American athlete ever to represent the United States at a World Championships meet after competing in the 2013 World Championships in Athletics in Moscow.

Personal life

Cain was born in New York City in 1996, the daughter of Charles and Mary E. Cain, and has three sisters, Aine, Catherine, and Mairead. She grew up in Bronxville, New York, in Westchester County, north of New York City, and was noticed in the seventh grade for her running ability. Her main events are in middle distance running. She graduated from Bronxville High School in 2014. She attended the honors program at the University of Portland in Portland, Oregon while competing as a professional athlete for Nike, Inc.

In October 2012, she came under the coaching direction of Alberto Salazar, who in 2019 was banned for 4 years from athletics for doping offenses, and in 2021 was banned for life by the United States Center for SafeSport for sexual misconduct.

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Career

Cain served for ten seasons with Bronxville High School, winning numerous state titles as well as two national titles while still a Bronxville student. She was the NYS Class C Cross Country Champion in 2010; in 2011, she was also the NYS Class C and NYS Federation Champion. She ran the 800 meters in the 2012 United States Olympic Trials, placing 18th, and also competed in Athletics, where she set a new record in the 1500 meters, beating Jordan Hasay in the 2008 Olympic Trials by over 3 seconds. Because of her efforts, she has been able to compete in the World Championships. She had placed second in the same event last year.

Cain took the 3000 meter race at the University of Washington Indoor Preview Meet on January 16, 2013 in a record-breaking time for Lynn Bjorklund, who set the record of 9:08.6 (high school) in 1975. No indoors at the University of Washington track have been set because the track is oversized at 307 meters, but it is much smaller than a standard 400-meter outdoor track. Indoor marks that exceed the outdoor record are now accepted at the world level. However, Track and Field News, which sets its own records, has the highest track for 3000 meters at the High School level. USATF named Cain the Athlete of the Week for his efforts. She ran the indoor one mile in 4:32.78 minutes on January 26, in New York City. Debbie Heald's indoor national high school record from 1972 was beaten by nearly 6 seconds by Debbie Heald. Despite the fact that she had not started her finishing kick yet, her 1500-meter split time of 4:16.11 dominated Lynn Jennings' record for the distance from 1978. Polly Plumer's outdoor national high school outdoor record from 1982 was also more than two and a half seconds quicker than her Polly Plumer's outdoor national high school outdoor record from 1982. Cain set the fastest school record in the indoor 2 mile on February 2, 2013 at 9:38.68. Kim Mortensen's outdoor record for the slightly shorter 3200 meters was nearly ten seconds quicker. Cain ran the mile in 4:28.25 seconds at the Millrose Games just a few weeks after. Her time in the mile surpassed her own personal record, while her split time at 1500 slowed on her own record. Her mile time was also quicker than Gelete Burka's world youth record by more than two seconds. Since 2000, the IAAF has recognised indoor records that are superior to outdoor ones, but the IAAF does not track the mile distance at the youth level. Cain swam the 1500 meters in 4:04.62 on May 17, 2013, smashing her own high school record from the previous year and smashing Suzy Favor's American junior record (who was almost two years older when she set the record in 1987). Cain set a new American junior and high school record in the 800 meters in June 2013, beating Kim Gallagher's record set in 1982. She was the first American youth, junior, or high school female to crack the 2 minute barrier with her time. On June 8, 2013, Cain ran 5,000 meters in Portland, Oregon, breaking a new United States high school national record in track and field. Cain completed the 1500 and 5000 meters in order to qualify for the 2013 World Championships in Athletics in Moscow, but she later dropped the 5000 from her schedule. Cain led most of the final lap until she was passed by training partner Treniere Moser and finished in second place with a time of 4:28.76, marking her first senior team as a 17-year-old and youngest American to ever join a World Championships team. Cain qualified for the 1500 meters final at the 2013 World Championships by placing 13th in the heats, a time of 4:08.21, and 5th in the semifinals with a time of 4:05.21. She became the youngest woman to compete in a 1500 meters final in World Championships history. Cain was notified on November 20, 2013 that he was forgoing a college degree in order to work for the Nike Oregon Project. USATF named her as "Youth Athlete of the Year" on December 3, 2013. She was also a member of Track and Field News' "High School Athlete of the Year."

Cain set a new World Junior Indoor Record in the 1000 meters on January 16, 2014, running 2:39.25 at the Boston University Multi-Team Meet. Diana Richburg's hand timed record from 1982 was about a second off the second half of her time. Cain took the race a breath ahead of Moser, who had passed Cain in the closing stages of the National Championships the previous year. Katrin Wühn of East Germany set a faster, automatic time record of 2:38.57 seconds in 1984, but it was on an oversized track (much like the University of Washington track), so the date was not accepted as the official record. Cain ran the mile in 4:24.11, a week later, raising her American Junior record and missing the world Junior record by.01. Her near-even splits were expected to be 65.5, 66.6, 66.1, and 66.1. Cain returned to Boston on February 8, sweeping through downtown at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center at the New Balance Grand Prix to put an end to the 1000 meters to rest. She set a new record by running 2:35.80 while beating the field in an elite field, including training partner Treniere Moser. Her time was just over 1.6 seconds off the open division American record. In the 1500 meters, she captured the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships two weeks later. Moser was her closest competitor, only 3 seconds behind, but the next closest competitor was almost 6 seconds behind. Cain took home a silver medal at the 2014 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the 1500 meters in Sacramento, California, on June 27 and 29, running 4:06.34 in the final. On July 5, Cain captured a US Junior Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, winning the Gold Medal and qualifying for the 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics. Her photo was published on the front page of the USATF Rule Book for the forthcoming 2015 season.

On Jan. 31 at Armory Inv, Cain set a new personal record of 2:02.75 800 meters. Cain finished eighth in the women's Wanamaker Mile at the 2015 New York Millrose Games, a dreadful loss she attributed to "growing pains." Cain competed in the Hoka One USATF Mid Distance Classic in May, finishing 11th in 4:16.48 (almost 12 seconds slower than 2013 in the same meeting) representing the Nike Oregon Project. In the 1500 meters final at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, Cain placed 8th in the 1500 meters final. Cain's European summer season featured record-breakings 3000 meters of 9:05.68 in Cork, Ireland, and 1500 meters of 4:09.08 in Liège, Naimette-Xhovémont.

Cain, who now represents the Nike Oregon Project, began her outdoor season with a time of 4:12.62 in the 1500 meters at the 2016 Drake Relays. She came in third at the 800 meters invitational at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, a week later on Pac-12 Network. She finished third in a 1500 meters run in Boston Games in 4:10.84, behind Rachel Schneider and Cory McGee. Cain came in third in the 1500 meters in 4:13.16 and eleventh in the Mt. and 11th on June 23, the third in the 5000 meters. Hood Community College is located in Hood, Washington, D.C. She earned a 1500 roster spot on Team USA in the 2016 NACAC Under-23 Championships in Athletics and the 2016 US Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon. In the 1500 meters at the NACAC championship in San Salvador, El Salvador, she earned a silver medal in a time of 4:16.86.

Cain's demise in running to bad coaching in the Nike Oregon Project in late 2019. The New York Times released a video op-ed in late 2019. Cain claimed that Alberto Salazar, the head coach, and his staff arbitrarily set for her an unreasonably small goal weight, 114 pounds (52 kg). Cain said that Salazar regularly shamed her into this weight, and that this, as well as the training program, brought her body into the condition RED-S, which is associated with lost menses, for three years, whereby she had five bone fractures. Sports Illustrated later published nine other accounts by former Nike Oregon Project runners, dating back to 2008, who confirmed Cain's assertions of "an addictive, harmful environment under Salazar."

Cain filed a $20 million lawsuit against Salazar and his employer, Nike, alleging emotional and physical harm.

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