Win at All Costs

Inside Nike Running and Its Culture of Deception

By: Matt Hart

Narrated by: Josh Bloomberg

Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's Summary

"After years of rumors and speculation, Matt Hart sets out to peel back the layers of secrecy that protected the most powerful coach in running. What he finds will leave you indignant - and wondering whether anything in the high-stakes world of Olympic sport has truly changed." (Alex Hutchinson, New York Times best-selling author of Endure) 

Game of Shadows meets Shoe Dog in this explosive behind-the-scenes look that reveals for the first time the unsettling details of Nike's secret running program - the Nike Oregon Project.

In May 2017, journalist Matt Hart received a USB drive containing a single file - a 4.7-megabyte PDF named "Tic Toc, Tic Toc....". He quickly realized he was in possession of a stolen report prepared a year earlier by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for the Texas Medical Board, part of an investigation into legendary running coach Alberto Salazar, a Houston-based endocrinologist named Dr. Jeffrey Brown, and cheating by Nike-sponsored runners, including some of the world’s best athletes.

The information Hart received was part of an unfolding story of deception that began when Steve Magness, an assistant to Salazar, broke the omertà - the Mafia-like code of silence about performance-enhancing drugs among those involved - and alerted the USADA. He was soon followed by Olympians Adam and Kara Goucher who risked their careers to become whistleblowers on their former Nike running family in Beaverton, Oregon.

Combining sports drama and business exposé, Win at All Costs tells the full story of Nike’s running program, uncovering a corporate win-at-all-costs culture.

©2020 Matt Hart (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers

Hard to follow

The premise is interesting but I felt like this jumped all over the place. At times it’s like a tabloid, picking and choosing damning details about Nike and Salazar to highlight, at other times it seems like it’s a biopic of the Gouchers. One minute the runners are going through what seem like the worst challenges in their career and then the next paragraph tells about them setting new records and being at the top of their game. Worth a listen but not as good as I’d hoped.

Great enlightening book

You'll likely like this book if you're a running junkie and are alright with learning about how the biggest running brand is corrupt.

Nicely done

I’ve heard the story before but never in such detail. I long admired both Salazar and Nike but hard to be a fan of either when the only principle they adhere to is deceit. Purity of sport is just a marketing scheme and I’m left disappointed with the decisions made to stay at the top. The author does a nice job of portraying the story in objective light. It was an exciting read.

a nice layout of a modern scandal

it's sad to know exactly how corrupted professional sports,has become. the sport of running is dear to my heart, so especially disappointing

An extremely interesting read

This book was so interesting and really makes you rethink Nike as a company and the pursuit of athletic greatness.

Great Audiobook!

As a runner and fan of the sport, I have been aware of most of the content in this book. But it’s always shocking to hear the in-depth details that went on behind the scenes. Matt Hart does a great job setting the stage and giving all the background info to help explain this complicated story.

But for the narrator - DUDE! Learn how to pronounce names before you record this book. Bernard Lagat is not hard, neither is Sifan Hassan.