The Nike Problem: Discriminating Against Pregnant Athletes

By: Greta Stuckey

Nike loves to advertise equality, but they are often more concerned with their profits than the wellbeing of their athletes.

Prior to 2019, any female athlete who was sponsored by Nike and got pregnant had their contract cut, stopped getting paid and lost their health insurance. While Nike still claims they have the right to reduce pay ‘for any reason’ if performance-related goals are not met, they have now instituted a section into athlete contracts claiming that they will not be penalized for pregnancy.

“Getting pregnant is the kiss of death for a female athlete,” said Nike-sponsored runner Phoebe Wright to the New York Times. “There’s no way I would tell Nike if I were pregnant.”

Nike Releases Maternity Ad After Backlash for The Treatment of Pregnant Female Athletes.

The change in Nike Policy only came in 2019 after a New York Times op-ed from 800m track star, Alysia Montaño. In a first-hand account, Montaño explains the system of discrimination within Nike when a female athlete gets pregnant. The pay cuts, psychological pressures, loss of health insurance and lack of support is described in detail by Montaño.

After the New York Times released Montaño’s story, Nike began to receive backlash in the media and among consumers. Hoping to stifle the criticism, Nike put out ads supporting pregnant female athletes and only began to change their athlete contracts once Allyson Felix spoke out against them.

“My disappointment is not just with Nike, but with how the sports apparel industry at large treats female athletes,” Allyson Felix said in a NYT op-ed. “We may stand behind the brands we endorse, but we also need to hold them accountable when they are marketing us to appeal to the next generation of athletes and consumers.”

The New York Times found that the four executives who negotiate contracts for female track and field athletes were men. The male executives did not factor in pregnancy as an option for their sponsored athletes. Nike wasn’t the only corporation punishing female athletes for their pregnancy. When Montaño switched sponsors to Asics, they also threatened to stop paying her after she had her daughter and was trying to physically recover.

Alysia Montaño Wins The 800m While 8 Months Pregnant.

“Maybe being a mother and a champion was a crazy dream, but it didn’t have to be,” Montaño said in her NYT op-ed. “I wanted to turn stereotypes about pregnancy upside down. Exercising through pregnancy is great for both the mom and the baby. I wanted to show people that you coils be a mother and still have a successful career, even in sports.”

Outside of apparel sponsorship, the female athletes who got pregnant were stripped of their health insurance from the United States Olympic Committee and U.S.A. Track and Field. High-performing athletes receive their health insurance from one of those entities, but once female athletes get pregnant, they drop their health insurance at a time when the women need it most. The situation becomes disparate, especially for track and field athletes who survive on sponsorships.

While Nike eventually changed their maternity policies for female athletes under their sponsorship, many women were affected by their previous policies. While Nike has improved in some aspects of women’s health, they have failed in supporting athletes in others such as disordered eating and doping. Pregnancy doesn’t have to mean the end of a female athlete’s career, either way, that choice is not up to Nike.