After a controversial four-year doping ban, American runner Shelby Houlihan won a silver medal at the World Indoor Championships in the 3000-meter race. The holder of the US 1500-meter record was denied entry into the Paris Olympics. The 32-year-old said she was flooded with a range of emotions after her second-place finish on Saturday behind Ethiopia’s Freweyni Hailu, who won gold.
“It’s been a long journey,” Houlihan said in an interview with letsrun.com. I’m looking forward to today and the future, but I’m also kind of grieving the past. Simply put, it has been a very challenging journey. In the lead-up to Olympic trials in 2021, Houlihan revealed she had tested positive for nandrolone and claimed it came from a tainted pork burrito. Despite numerous appeals, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ultimately rejected Houlihan’s argument. Houlihan’s case divided opinion, mainly because many elements of it were similar to “no-fault” cases that often result in athletes receiving little or no penalty. The International Athletics Integrity Unit prosecuted Houlihan’s case, which resulted in her spending the majority of her professional career on the sidelines. She was not granted any such leniency. After finishing second in Nanjing, China, she thought back on the journey that led to her comeback. She claimed that the most challenging year was her first one away from the sport. “Getting used to completely trying to create a new normal,” Houlihan said. “Running had been part of my life since I was five, so who am I without this? I didn’t know. [I felt] crumbled and trying to rebuild myself back up.”
She said “a ton of anger” was driving her at the time, but she realized she had to rein in her emotions. Houlihan stated that she is hopeful that a sponsorship deal will result from her success in the world in China. In September, Houlihan could compete in the 1500m or 5000m at the world outdoor championships. According to Houlihan, “It got to a point where I was just like, “I don’t want to give up because I feel like I’ll always wonder what could have been.” “And then I feel like I still have more to prove. I feel like the best is yet to come for myself and I wanted to see that through and not let someone else decide.”
With six gold medals and a total of 16 medals, the United States topped the medal table at the World Indoor Championships this year.
