Toxic Culture In Sports: The Price Of Success

The making and breaking of star athletes

Image/Video by Lindsay Course and Alexander Stockton

A NewYork Times released an article and video about Mary Cain, an American distance runner, and her experience as a young professional athlete training under a coach who was known for producing top world-class athletes.

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Mary Cain had a lot of success in her running career at an early age. She broke national records, won gold in the World Junior Championships and became the youngest American to ever make a World Championship team. It’s not every day you see a young athlete that possesses this much potential to be extraordinary. She had a bright future ahead of her.

This is how the story always begins. We see an athlete who abnormally excels at a young age. The media and spectators make their early picks and crown these young stars as future champions, Olympians, and MVPs in their sport. The nation’s top coaches drool over the idea of working with athletes like this.

Some young stars live up to the hype and become national or world heroes. Usain Bolt and Simone Biles are two examples of…