World champion sprinter sues Puma, claiming defective shoes

April 29, 2026

According to a report by Front Office Sports, on Friday, April 24, four-time NCAA champion and two-time world champion Abby Steiner of Dublin, Ohio, filed a lawsuit in the Massachusetts Superior Court against Puma and Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix, alleging that the spikes and shoes she was given injured her feet. Steiner is seeking more than US$1.25 million in damages; the case cites financial loss, medical bills and “the loss of full enjoyment of life and disfigurement.”

The suit also names Mercedes-Benz’s Formula 1 team as co-defendant, since its performance team helped design the spikes. Court documents can be found in a report by NBC4.

Competing for the University of Kentucky, Steiner won the indoor NCAA 200m title in 2021 and 2022 and both the 200m and 4x400m relay at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Championships; she became a Puma athlete that year. At the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Ore., she won gold in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays. Steiner has not competed since the 2024 U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene, after injuries derailed her performance and she finished sixth, missing the qualifying mark. CANADIAN Running Magazine