. >> mary cain says the program forced her to lose weight and nearly drove here to suicide.ike is responding. overnight nike firing back denying serious allegations from a champion runner once dubbed the fastest girl in america. >> i was emotionally and physically abused. >> reporter: at just 17 mary cain was blowing away the competition winning a gold medal at the 2014 world junior championships and two national titles. >> mary cain. the women here almost twice her age left in her wake. >> reporter: she became the youngest american track athlete to make a world championship team and was signed with nike's famed training program but now cain is coming forming the coach, alberto salazar and others emotionally and physically abused her. >> i was weighed in front of teammates. i was told i was five pounds too heavy. cain claims she was constantly told to lose weight. she says because of the alleged treatment, she suffered five broken bones, didn't have a period for three years and had suicidal thoughts. >> i usually cut my legs because i hated them for not running faster for no

former track star mary cain is blasting nike, claiming she was emotionally and physically abused whilerehema ellis has the details. >> reporter: at 17, mary cain was the youngest track athlete to ever make a world championship team. >> she is the michael jordan of women's track. >> i wanted to be the fastest in the world. >> reporter: she signed with nike's project, an elite program run by famed coach alberto salazar. she said the training was abusive and focused on her weight >> they told me i had to lose weight or i wasn't going to be able to perform well >> reporter: whose stands ards were you trying to meet? >> standards of an all male staff. >> reporter: she dropped to 114 pounds her body started breaking down she had no period three years, suffered five broken bones and had thoughts of suicide. >> i told them that i was cutting myself she says her concerns were dismissed. >> and i think that was the moment i realized i had to get out. >> reporter: salazar has disputed her claims. nike did not respond to nbc news's request for comment it ended its training program last month >> th

mary cain was once r once once an olympic openful. in front of teammates. i was told during practices that i was clearly five pounds too heavy. it was public knowledge within the program, within the team that i was really struggling with this. >> reporter: the star runner says to "the new york times," that as part of nike's oregon project, coach alberto salazar and his assistants emotionally and physically abused her. >> there's so many people who looked at me at that time and thought that i was living the dream and in certain ways i thought i would be but there was no -- nobody cared about me as a person. i was a product. and i -- i didn't know how to cope. >> reporter: cain became a high school running sensation in bronxville new york and at 17 signed a professional contract training under salazar where she would win a gold medal at the ment ays dpite rndo ti the success, her physical and mental health began to deteriorate as a result of her coach's treatment, she says, in her most desperate moment she even turned to self-harm. >> i

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. >> mary cain was 17 years old and asked to join nike's elite training program she says it was a dream instead of becoming the best female athlete ever like she hoped, she quit the team after intense body shaming left her suicidal. >> my coaches were always telling me i had to get thinner and thinner and thinner. >> reporter: mary cain was once called the fastest girl in america, and when she joined famed running coach alberto salazar and nike's elite training program, the organ project, she had very high hopes. >> my dream at that point was to be the best in the world and win medals, be an olympic gold medallist. >> reporter: but instead of encouragement and support, cain said she was scrutinized and humiliated. >> the coaches were specifically telling me i had to get within a very fine weight range anytime i wasn't within it, they were telling me i had to lose weight. >> she said he weight dropped to 114 pounds, her period stopped for three years and she suffered five broken bones, and there were serious mental health issues too. >> i told them that i was cutting myself, and i told t

. >> sandra: nike is looking into allegations published by that track star mary cain emotionally anded by her coach in the nike oregon project. abby, great to have you here this morning. two athletes having this discussion. what is the case sthe is making? >> these are serious allegations against alberto salazar. he came to her when she was 16 and recruited here for this top running team in the united states. and what is really happening here, sandra, she is claiming that he said you need to lose weight, you need to lose weight. gave her an arbitrary 114 pounds. you ran track, correct? >> sandra: weight was a discussion. part of being an athlete at that ever. >> the more weight you have on your body as a runner the more energy you have to give out. it has to be a healthy weight. she is saying there was no certified nutritionist or a sports psychologist. all male staff. so this is really a problem. it got to the point where she developed reds as a woman that means you don't get your cycle for three years in her case. when that happens you are depleted in estrogen and your bones become