Everyone's Guilty! No one's Guilty!

 Two time American Record holder (1500 & 5000) Shelby Houlihan has been banned for 4 years for ingesting nandrolone from a food truck burrito she ate last December!
No World Championships, No Olympics in 2021 or 2024, no USATF Championships, nothing!
The Track and Field community is in utter shock!

First notice of something bad concerning Houlihan came from Let's Run!
(Want a good laugh...or cry?  Read the first several pages of L-R Forum comments about it!)
I then began a thread about her on the Track and Field News MB.
While not totally shocked, I was dismayed by the tenor of the comments there as well.

They seemed to be saying she MUST be guilty!
I mean, she suddenly improved so much, and produced such a devastating kick at the end of fast races, she must be taking PED's!!
Yet one comment by Becca (aka PoleVaultPower) stated that nandrolone wouldn't ordinarily be taken by female distance runners,, because it "masculinized" them!
They'd take something to enhance their performance, and nandrolone wasn't it!
Someone on Twitter said the trace amount found in Houlihan was equal to "one-fiftieth" of a grain of salt--meaning it didn't deserve a ban, let alone a ban of four years!!

Are drugs the major reason--or even A reason--athletes improve so much?
In Houlihan's case, the "tainted burrito" was eaten at a time when she was in training, with no apparent races on the horizen!
Did she eat some before her American Records?

And if she IS guilty, then what about all the others who suddenly run much faster than they ever had?
Her Bowerman Track Club teammates Elise Cranny and Karissa Schweizer are classic examples!
Cranny had never run a 10000, yet ran 30:47.42, even outkicking Schweizer, whose previous best was more than a minute slower than her 30:47.99!
And how could Schweizer beat Houlihan--the far better kicker--at the end of an INdoor AR of 8:25 in the 3000?
And improve from a Collegiate best 5000 of over 15:20 to 14:26 in just over one year?

Then there's the latest WR setters--Joshua Cheptegei, Sifan Hassan, and Letesenbet Gidey, and not forgetting Almaz Ayana!!
When Genzebe Dibaba was setting all those WR's a few years ago, cynics immediately said her being linked to her coach who'd been caught with 100's of hypodermic needles in his hotel room meant SHE was loaded on the stuff!!

And then there's Nike Oregon Project, whose coach Alberto Salazar actually WAS convicted of drug abuse--and banned for four years!
Did that mean all of his athletes--Galen Rupp, Jordan Hasay, Mo Farah, Shannon Rowbury, Mary Cain, and all the rest are similarly guilty, and should be banned!
(Luckily, Cain was brave enough to reveal the truth about Salazar, as was Kara Goucher!)

But this tragedy has an affect that extends far beyond Shelby Houlihan!
We'll notice this when Houlihan doesn't appear on the starting line, and NBC's announcers will have to explain why!!
We'll notice this when the medal count for the United States is missing a couple!
And what about her heartbroken--and totally supportive--BTC teammates, especially the ones with serious chances to make the team?
Will they be so depressed they won't be able to perform as they normally would?
Will other athletes--also believing Houlihan is more a victim than a drug-eating monster--be able to perform when it counts/

Will anyone be courageous enough to speak out (especially on TV!), or to form some sort of demonstration to protest Houlihan's absence?
Black armbands, "Shelby" written on their bibs, a fist raised, kneeling during their medal ceremony?

And there's more!
Shalane Flanagan--retired runner, but now Houlihan's coach--said she might leave the sport because of this!
She was in tears as she said this!

Will serious fans of the sport believe that EVERYONE is guilty of drug abuse, and thus lose their love for and devotion to the sport?
Or will they feel that no one is guilty, and drug use is just standard in T&F, and to be overlooked?

I am depressed, saddened, dismayed!
I'm not Houlihan's biggest fan, but I've always liked her personality, and her appeal to my wild side!
And she's a great athlete!
Who ate a burrito from a neighborhood food truck.
Who is ordered to sit out the next 4 years--in the prime of her career!
Whose future is built on the reputation she develops throughout her career--and her life!

Shelby Houlihan must be vindicated!
She WILL be!!
Be strong, Shelby, we love you!!

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