Breakfast Club: Running World Reacts to Houlihan Ban

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Shelby Houlihan in a Zoom press conference.

Houlihan suspended

On Monday afternoon, my running Slack group went into a speculative frenzy. Word had spread that Shelby Houlihan was giving a Zoom press conference with her Bowerman Track Club coaches, Shalane Flanagan and Jerry Schumacher. Rumors, mostly ominous, swirled on Letsrun.com and Facebook message boards.

By early evening the news was clear. Houlihan, US record holder in the 1500m and the 5000m, was suspended from track and field for four years after testing positive for nandrolone, an anabolic steroid and banned substance. Houlihan was notified of the positive test back in January, from a sample provided to the Athletics Integrity Unit last December. In a statement, Houlihan announced that her appeal to the Court of Arbitration of Sports was rejected. She had been banned. (YouTube)

What now?

This is a devastating blow to Houlihan, derailing her career as it reached its apex. The four-year suspen…