Four years ago, American 1,500m record holder Shelby Houlihan was banned from the sport of track and field for a failed doping test. On Tuesday, after missing two Olympic Games and two world championships, the 31-year-old became eligible to compete again. Her return to track has ignited a buzz on the Internet, placing her name in countless headlines and even landed her a documentary.
Houlihan received her ban in January 2021 when her sample was positive for the steroid nandrolone, and claimed the positive result was due to contaminated pork she ate in a burrito. WADA dismissed her explanation as not possible.
“Shelby Houlihan: Rising” is set to premiere on FloTrack on Feb. 3. The documentary tells the story of the former Bowerman Track Club athlete’s journey through her four-year suspension and her intention to race again under the World Athletics affiliation. “This race would not hurt as much as everything I’ve been through these last four years,” Houlihan says in the film’s teaser. “I don’t want anyone else to decide what my future is going to look like. I’m going to decide that.”
The Instagram post received a substantial amount of backlash, with fans questioning why FloTrack is endorsing an athlete who was found to have violated WADA.
“Why are y’all promoting someone who lowers the integrity of the sport,” one comment reads.
“Insanity. She’s a ‘hero’ because she cheated,” the unimpressed remarks continued.
“Unfollowed,” another user said.
American record holder Shelby Houlihan receives 4-year ban following positive drug test
Houlihan broke the American 1,500m record at the 2019 world championships in Doha, Qatar, with a time of 3:54.99. She fell just short of a worlds medal, claiming fourth. Houlihan went on to take the American 5,000m record in 2020, running 14:23.92. (This record stood for three years before it was broken by Alicia Monson.)
Despite her four-year hiatus from official competition, Houlihan is looking to return to the sport this indoor season in “near or close-to” the same fitness she left.
Her new agent, Paul Doyle, revealed to media that in June, Houlihan said she’s in 3:57 shape. “Which is mind-blowing,” Doyle said. “I fully expect her to be getting right back to where she was very quickly. Of course, there are four years of cobwebs you’ve gotta dust off. But everything in her training indicates that she’ll be right back to her level she was at.”
But how did she sustain her top-tier fitness?
The Iowa native kept herself occupied during her ban by turning her focus to the beer mile, since the Beer Mile World Classic is unaffiliated with World Athletics. The new hobby gave her a purpose for training and a platform for competitions, which essentially remained unchanged, other than the addition of beer-chugging.
In 2023, Houlihan broke the women’s beer mile world record, clocking 5:43.81 to become the first woman to break the six-minute barrier in the event.
According to an industry source, Houlihan’s is targeting to race in Boston at the end of the month.
