EUGENE, Ore. — American record holding runner Shelby Houlihan’s bid to compete in the Tokyo Olympics appeared to come to an end Friday morning when a Swiss tribunal denied her request for an emergency injunction that would have allowed her to race at the Olympic Trials, which open later Friday.
Houlihan, who competes for the Nike-financed Bowerman Track Club, was suspended for four years earlier this year after testing positive for nandrolone, a banned anabolic steroid. The Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport this week rejected Houlihan’s appeal of suspension.
Houlihan’s request for an injunction was part of an appeal attorneys for her filed with the Swiss Federal Tribunal.
“This week, my attorneys sought an emergency injunction with the Swiss Federal Tribunal to allow me to run the Olympic Trials while my appeal of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decision is pending,” Houlihan wrote on her Instagram account Friday. “Unfortunately this morning, they did not grant our request for the emergency order. The court found that because the CAS has not released its reasoning for the decision they can’t know whether I am likely to succeed in an appeal.”
For much of Thursday it appeared that Houlihan, the American record holder at both 1,500 and 5,000 meters, would be allowed to compete in the Olympic Trials. Thursday morning she was included on the start list for Friday’s 1,500 first round heats and USA Track and Field indicated she would be allowed to race in Eugene.
“Given there is an active appeal process, USATF will allow any athletes to continue competing until the process is completed,” USATF said in a statement.
But the Athlete Integrity Unit, the agency overseeing anti-doping for international track and field, formally notified USATF of Houlihan’s suspension later Thursday. After discussions between AIU and World Athletics, the sport’s global governing body, and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic and USATF and a series of terse statements from AIU, World Athletics, CAS and the World Anti-Doping Agency, Houlihan was withdrawn from the Trials late Thursday.
“The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, together with USATF, can confirm that we will adhere to the WADA Code and any CAS decisions that govern athlete participation in sanctioned events,” USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland said in a statement.
On Instagram Friday, Houlihan wrote, “I want to be clear that, contrary to media reports, I never had any intention of competing if this injunction wasn’t granted. If I was going to race, it was going to be in the right way. I respect the sport and my competitors too much. I would never jeopardize the legal standing of the US team and the Olympic dreams of others. This ruling means that my goal of making another Olympic team is over for now. I can’t begin to find the words to express how disheartening this is. It absolutely breaks my heart to have my dreams and career taken away for something I did not do.”
Houlihan was tested on the morning of Dec. 15 in an out-of-competition test by the Athletics Integrity Unit. The AIU informed Houlihan in January that she had tested positive, reportedly having more than twice the allowable limit of nandrolone in her system. The drug is often used to treat anemia because it increases hemoglobin, the protein molecule in red blood cells that carry oxygen from the lungs to the body’s tissues, a factor that is beneficial to an endurance athlete.
“I absolutely respect and wholeheartedly support the fight to catch athletes who disrespect the sport by cheating and doping,” Houlihan said. “But I’m not one of them.”
Houlihan, after reviewing her food log, instead blamed a burrito. She said she ordered a carne asada burrito from the truck the night before the AIU test and the meal was cross-contaminated by pork items also served by the truck.
“We concluded that the most likely explanation was a burrito purchased and consumed approximately 10 hours before that drug test from an authentic Mexican food truck that serves pig offal near my house in Beaverton, Oregon,” she said.
While AIU testing records are not available, Houlihan has been tested by U.S. Anti-Doping Agency 55 times since 2016, including nine times this year, 16 in 2020 and 15 in 2019. There are no records indicating those tests resulted in a positive test.
“I will forge ahead with my appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal once the Court of Arbitration for Sport issues its reasoned decision,” Houlihan wrote. “I am told that appeals of this kind are difficult to win, but I continue to believe that the truth will prevail.”
ncG1vNJzZmhqZGy7psPSmqmorZ6Zwamx1qippZxemLyue82erqxno6y2tL%2BMnKauqqRiv6a2xJyrrGWjnbKtrthmn6itnJ61orqMq5yqrZWowW6yzqtknqWVp7SmusKyZKKmmqq7pMDIqKVmp6KWu6ixjJymrqakrnqzscaiqq2domQ%3D