Column: Wild and Wylie
Most people know of Eliud Kipchoge, the distance runner who unofficially broke the world marathon record due in large part to Nike’s investment into his equipment and training. Fewer are familiar with Mary Cain, a generational running talent and the youngest American track and field athlete to make the World Championships. Nike is part of her story too, because their investment was responsible for destroying her potential.
As they do with most sports, Nike dominates track and field. In order to train and develop the best long-distance runners in the world, Nike created the Oregon Project under the management and direction of Alberto Salazar, a former New York City Marathon winner.
Cain has accused Salazar and Nike of emotional and physical abuse that severely hindered her athletic performance and threatened her mental health, to the point of suicidal thoughts. She claims in a New York Times Opinion video that Salazar fostered a culture designed to take advantage of young girls, and that Nike permitted that culture to exist.
Nike must implement better safeguards for their athletes.
For many businesses, generating revenue and profit comes first. Businesses are inherently amoral operations. But Nike has consistently defied business stereotypes, creating personal relationships with their athletes.
Nike is an international corporation with $32.4 billion in net worth, almost double the next-closest sports apparel brand. It provides apparel for countless athletes (LeBron James, Cristiano Ronaldo and Tiger Woods) in addition to many major sports leagues (the NFL, NBA and MLB), colleges (Duke, UNC and Alabama) and countries (Team USA, France and England soccer).
Nike helped LeBron brand and market his “More Than An Athlete” campaign. Nike paid Michael Jordan’s NBA fines so he could wear his signature shoe on the court. Nike endured the initial backlash and boycott that came with signing Colin Kaepernick and listened to him when he complained about a “Betsy Ross flag” shoe as part of the sneaker line.
Nike has committed to listening and responding to athletes, sometimes taking unpopular and unprofitable stances.
Most of Cain’s allegations are directed at Salazar and his coaching staff. She claims they forced her to lose too much weight, ruining her running ability. They did not provide a sports psychologist and ignored her when she approached them about her suicidal thoughts and cutting. Salazar has been banned from track and field for four years on drug-related issues.
But Nike is not immune from consequences, just like Michigan State was not entirely innocent of Larry Nassar’s abuse. Those who enable abuse, while not being directly responsible, must be held accountable for not having oversight.
The Oregon Project was canceled by Nike back in September, and in October, Nike CEO Mark Parker resigned his position. But more should be required.
Projects like the Oregon Project need to have more female leaders, coaches and trainers for young athletes. Sports psychologists need to be available every step of the way. Nike cannot simply trust a person like Salazar to do everything right without mandating oversight and accountability over the coaches that these young girls and their families are trusting.
Other athletes, like figure skater Gracie Gold and Olympic distance runner Kara Goucher, have made similar allegations against Nike programs. Nike responded to The New York Times about Cain, promising to launch an investigation to hear from Oregon Project athletes, saying, “At Nike we seek to always put the athlete at the center of everything we do, and these allegations are completely inconsistent with our values.”
Values are not seen in slogans on a T-shirt or in an advertisement. They do not appear in the soles of sneakers or the threads of running shorts. Values are formed in the invisible moments, the ones that the public are not expected to see.
For Nike, a promise is not enough to achieve their claimed values. It’s up to Nike to stop talking and just do it.