- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,198,829
- Reaction score
- 59
You must be registered for see images attach
Abby Steiner
Credit: Wu Xiaoling/Xinhua via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Sprinter Abby Steiner has filed a lawsuit alleging Puma shoes derailed her career
- Steiner, 26, has had multiple injuries since she began wearing the shoes in 2022, she alleges in the lawsuit
- The athlete is the U.S. indoor record holder in the 200-meter and 300-meter events
Track and field sprinter Abby Steiner has filed a lawsuit against Puma and the Mercedes Formula 1 Team, alleging that defective shoes have derailed her career.
In a lawsuit filed in Middlesex County Superior Court in Massachusetts on Friday, April 24 and obtained by PEOPLE, the 26-year-old athlete alleged that the products made by the companies “seriously injured” her and “changed the foot and ankle mechanics during running that may contribute to or increase the risk of injury.”
Steiner, the U.S. indoor record holder in the 200-meter and 300-meter events, and the NCAA record holder in the 200-meter, claims that the shoes — which “include, but are not limited to” the Deviate Nitro Elite 2 and 3, evoSpeed Tokyo Nitro, evoSPEED Tokyo Nitro 400M — “are unsafe, unreasonably dangerous, defective and capable of causing injury and harms to consumers during ordinary, anticipated and foreseeable uses.”
Follow your favorite athletes on and off the field with PEOPLE's free sports newsletter — sign up now!
In addition, the lawsuit claims Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix and Puma were “involved in and had control over the design, development, testing, manufacture, marketing, promotion, advertisement, sale, importation and distribution of a variety of PUMA footwear, including the PUMA SHOES and component parts at issue in this Complaint.”
Since 2022, when she began being sponsored by Puma and wearing the shoes while running at Kentucky, Steiner has undergone several injuries and rehab, according to The Athletic.
You must be registered for see images attach
Gold medalists Talitha Diggs, Abby Steiner, Britton Wilson and Sydney McLaughlin of Team United States pose during the medal ceremony for the Women's 4x400m Relay on day ten of the World Athletics Championships in 2022.
Credit: Andy Lyons/Getty
PEOPLE has reached out to Puma for comment. In a statement to multiple outlets, Puma has denied Steiner’s allegations.
“Puma is aware that a case has been filed,” a Puma spokesperson said in a statement. “Unfortunately, we cannot comment on active litigation. However, we strongly deny any allegation that our performance products cause injuries.”
Steiner last competed at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, where she finished sixth in the 200-meter. Two months later, Steiner said on Instagram that after undergoing double Haglunds surgery on her feet in 2023, she pushed to get ready for the Olympic year and returned home from the Trials injured.
"After running rounds at trials, I returned home and wasn’t able to properly walk around my house for about 2 weeks," she wrote in a post on Aug. 14, 2024. "I got my third MRI of the season which showed us that there was more bone spur and a partial tear of my Achilles tendon, which meant it was time to shut it down (again) and get surgery (again)."
One year later, she announced on Instagram that she would be taking a step back from competition while pursuing her education.
Read the original article on People
Continue reading...
