After completing an international switch that will have made the athletics world quake, many people will be wondering who is Mary Cain and why has she declared for Ireland?
The New York born distance runner previously competed on behalf of team USA, but this week it has emerged that she has made herself available to Ireland thanks to a connection to the country via her grandparents.
A real talent at junior level, in 2013, at age 17, Cain qualified for the World Championships, becoming a world champion at U20 level the following year in the 3000m event.
Now aged 27, Cain hasn’t competed competitively on the world stage for quite some time. She last registered a result in 2020, clocking a 9:07.51 for 3000m in Boston.
While injuries have no doubt partly contributed to that, c has also had other factors impeding on her athletics career over the years.
Late last year, she received a settlement of $20m following a lawsuit against Alberto Salazar, a former coach of hers, for emotional abuse.
Salazar was handed a four-year ban for doping violations in 2019, and was also subsequently given a lifetime ban by the US Centre for Safe Sport after allegations of sexual misconduct came to light.
Incredible...and horrifying. Mary Cain opens up on her time with the Nike Oregon Project.
"I was emotionally and physically abused by a system designed by Alberto and endorsed by Nike"pic.twitter.com/A6kY1Yl9RF— Travis Miller (@travismillerx13) November 7, 2019
He had been a key cog in the controversial Nike Oregon Project, of which Cain had been a part of since the age of 16.
Posting on Instagram in October 2023, Cain shed light on the advocacy work she continues to do on the topic.
“This week I travelled to DC to speak with Congressional offices that are working to make changes to The US Center for Safesport. Thank you to the leaders pushing for this legislation, especially Representative Ross,” she said.
“The Safer Sports for Athletes Act is a desperately needed bill that, among other changes, would establish training policies to encourage trauma-informed care within The Center, require victim advocates are available for survivors, and ensure guaranteed, continual communication to help survivors navigate through this already fraught journey.
“To my immense dismay and frustration, The Center has generally pushed against working with victim advocate groups - such as @thearmyofsurvivors - to create internal systems change. Rather than work together with people that have personally navigated this traumatising and poorly run system, The Center has behaved like most of corporate America - or defending the brand name vs the people impacted by its operations.”
She concluded that she was “grateful for lawmakers who are listening to survivors and who recognize it’s time for change” and also called for more athletes who feel passionately about the topic to use their voice and exercise their rights to engage local representatives.
Who is Mary Cain and why has she declared for Ireland? [continued]
Having not registered a result in athletics for the last four years, it remains to be seen what Mary Cain’s switch to Ireland will actually look like.
In 2022 she also began competing in triathlon, although there’s little information on her activities since then.
In recent years she has also made strides in the business field, founding a non-profit called Atalanta NYC, which employs professional female runners to mentor young girls in the community. In fact, Irish international Aoibhe Richardson among its members.
On their website, Atalanta NYC stress their three pillars of community, education and movement across their professional, training and youth teams.
This week on The Victory Lap: Learn more about @atalantaNY and @MerryKarismas’s decision + enthusiasm to join @runmarycain’s nonprofit that employs professional female runners to mentor young girls in the community
✍🏻 @sam_smurphy
Subscribe and read ➡️ https://t.co/JNb2Yopnoo pic.twitter.com/yR26QdNunL— CITIUS MAG (@CitiusMag) March 11, 2022
