Mary Cain, a New York high school senior who happens to also be one of the country's professional middle distance runners, has decided to withdraw from the upcoming IAAF World Indoor Championships due to a calf injury. Cain had qualified for the US world team by winning the women's 1500 meter race in a 4:07.05 performance at altitude in Albuquerque, New Mexico just over a week ago at the US Indoor Championships..
A high school national record holder in several events from last year when she still had amateur status, Cain has had a sensational first season since turning pro running for Nike under the guidance of coach Alberto Salazar including setting the World Junior 1K record twice to have her time down to 2:35.80 from her New Balance Grand Prix victory at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston. She ran a mile PR of 4:24.11 (indoor or outdoor) at the Boston University Terrier Invite on January 24th and notched another major victory at the Millrose Games mile in 4:27. Cain was certainly running well enough to be considered by many to be a strong contender for a top 3 medal at Worlds and even thought as a lock to medal by some.
The injury comes at a horrible time at the end of the indoor season as she figured to be a solid medal hopeful at the World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland. She gained valuable experience last summer representing the United States in the World Outdoor Championships in Moscow when the then high school junior Cain made the finals of the senior women's 1500 and posted a time of 4:07.19 for 10th place in the final round. She was hoping to use that experience and improve upon her 10th place finish and potentially sneak into a top 3 medal position at World Indoors, but now will focus on resting and recovering from her injury and prepare for a stronger outdoor season of races.
Cain's statement via USATF.org:
“Unfortunately I will not be able to travel to the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Sopot. Over the past week, I developed a discomfort in my lower calf. I had an MRI scan on Saturday and it was all clear, but I still feel the pain when I wear spikes and have decided not to risk making it worse in Poland. I hope to be able to run in the World Indoor Championships many times in the future. I wish all my fellow USA athletes the best and hope they bring home lots of medals from Poland.”
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