SHOCKING DEVELOPMENT!!! - Shelby Houlihan is running in the Olympic Trials! (Yes, Really)

Told ya so. You people claiming to be in the know are a joke. She was always going to be allowed to compete in the Trials...gullible souls you are.

I'm wondering if Houlihan isn't overplaying her hand here. It seems pretty clear that she won't be at the games, so the Trials are pointless for her, except as proving a point. But what point is she proving? What is gained? Because I'm looking on Twitter and opinion it almost universally against her running at the Trials, for the chaos it will cause to the standings, and the distraction it will create. Even people who believe Houlihan are posting they think it's wrong to race the Trials. I feel like there is a shift in opinion here, and things are really turning against her.

whelp, it's over wrote:

Er... wrote:

So USATF is setting the stage for everyone competing in her heat (her event? the entire meet?), to be guilty of a WADA anti-doping violation. That’s some impressive work on their part. It’s almost like they don’t know the rules and regulations governing their own sport.

can someone point to this rule please?

Here is a statement of the rule, along with examples. Based on these examples, there's no way that merely competing against a dirty athlete counts as an "association." Such a rule would be back asswards, as it would require a walkout of the Olympic Trials.

The people suggesting that competing at the trials is a prohibited association are all just following the idiot in front of them and regurgitating nonsense. It's no wonder why we have Q-Anon in this country when people just accept an aburd statement on the LetsRun message boards so easily.

With that being said, obviously feel free to challenge my interpretation of the rule.

i might be helpful for some of you to check the therese johaug 2017 incident. she was and still is without a doubt the best cross county skier in the world (3 gold medals) and the best of all time. in 2017 while training in the swiss alps she had a severe case of sun burn. you can see the pictures on line. her lips were a big red mess full of pus. the norweigan team doctor erroneously prescribed a lip balm with traces of steroid clostebol. he so testified in court and took the blame. it was recognized that there were only trace amount of the steroid used for a few weeks that probably could not have affect performance. she was banned for 13 months so she missed to 2018 winter olympics and surely 3 or 4 gold medals. she appealed and her suspension was increased to 18 months. she is on record on youtube as saying that it was her fault. that an athlete is responsible for what they put in their body. last year not only did she win almost every single race but early this year she set the norweigan 10k track record of 32:20 ( 5 seconds under the olympic standard) so i expect she will run in toyko and carry their flag.

this is respecting the system and dealing with adversity with grace. now compare this to what is going on here . that press conference was disgusting. rules are rules. guessing or liking someone is not science. is never going to work to get rid of cheats. i wonder about that entire training group but i won't slander them like they slandered NOP athletes.

Look up a page or two. Someone embedded the WADA regulations. It’s rule 2.10 on p24.

whelp, it's over wrote:

Er... wrote:

So USATF is setting the stage for everyone competing in her heat (her event? the entire meet?), to be guilty of a WADA anti-doping violation. That’s some impressive work on their part. It’s almost like they don’t know the rules and regulations governing their own sport.

can someone point to this rule please?

Yes. Swiss appellate process. They may not care much about USATF, but USATF and Nike think that they are the big d#ck swingers in international sport and want to protect US athletes from what they believe to be an international doping agency that they think is out of line with Houlihan's case.

Houlihan is easily the top US medal prospect for 1500/5000. USATF and Nike do not want to go back to the days when the US was not even a factor at the OGs in the distance events. Without Houlihan, the Tokyo games could be a bust at 1500/5000.

casual obsever wrote:

sayyestonepotism wrote:

They can for sure ban everyone running races with her.

Yes. See Baumann in 2001. I think it was Schumann back then who withdrew his entry so he wouldn't get banned for racing with a banned cheat.

But there is no winning here for the others. If they withdraw from the trials to avoid a ban, they can't go to Olympics.

Good point! I guess we’re not sending any women to the Olympics in the 1500. Bans for all, lolz!

Cash from USATF for winning and big bonus from Nike. She will likely earn total $100k if she wins both events.

When everything is upheld this will only restart her 4 year window. Whatever. Wish I had tickets so I could boo in person.

HappyJack wrote:

jamb innn wrote:

Double bonus: centro unfollowed shelbo on IG also

This unfollowing stuff reminds me of third grade. Why do our elites think they get some sort of public relations pass when they unfollowed a former colleague who is down on their luck?

I guess her friends aren't really friends. Lesson to be learned, who you think are your friends are actually mere acquaintances.

A real friend wouldn't unfollow because of this. A real friend would probable have some sort of clue how terribly difficult this must be for her and whether or not she/he believed her, that person would look after her. Making sure she knew people still cared about her.

People have committed sewer pipes for less than what SH is going through.

Think about it. If it was your family member. Would you all be on LRC trashing her?

Give an honest answer.

Colleen hasn't followed Shelby for a long time now. They had some sort of falling out what seems to be 2 years ago. Colleen is a mean girl anyway, her girls support girls thing is all publicity. She's good at getting her bills paid.

blue man wrote:

Cash from USATF for winning and big bonus from Nike. She will likely earn total $100k if she wins both events.

But then if the ban is upheld isn't that money forfeit? Couldn't she be opening herself up to criminal liability for fraud, theft, etc?

Jeff Albertson wrote:

Doper or not, she’s the American Record holder and our best shot at gold in Tokyo, so let her run.

No

Brianruns10 wrote:

I'm wondering if Houlihan isn't overplaying her hand here. It seems pretty clear that she won't be at the games, so the Trials are pointless for her, except as proving a point. But what point is she proving? What is gained? Because I'm looking on Twitter and opinion it almost universally against her running at the Trials, for the chaos it will cause to the standings, and the distraction it will create. Even people who believe Houlihan are posting they think it's wrong to race the Trials. I feel like there is a shift in opinion here, and things are really turning against her.

She wants to show how well doping works!! She wants to show that Jerry is better at doping his athletes than Alberto.

I will be there and I'm throwing a Burrito at her.

HappyJack wrote:

People have committed sewer pipes for less than what SH is going through.

Think about it. If it was your family member. Would you all be on LRC trashing her?

Give an honest answer.

Does this apply to all drug cheats, including Russian, Kenyan, Ethiopian? Or is it just the Americans that get this empathy?

Mea culpa. I’m willing to concede I was wrong. It seems the prohibited association rule is to prevent athletes from being coached by a suspended athlete. My understanding was that there have been incidents where competitors have faced suspension for competing against suspended athletes, even if they weren’t ultimately suspended.

reasonableperson001 wrote:

ukad.org.uk/what-prohibited-association

Here is a statement of the rule, along with examples. Based on these examples, there's no way that merely competing against a dirty athlete counts as an "association." Such a rule would be back asswards, as it would require a walkout of the Olympic Trials.

.

Brianruns10 wrote:

I'm wondering if Houlihan isn't overplaying her hand here. It seems pretty clear that she won't be at the games, so the Trials are pointless for her, except as proving a point. But what point is she proving? What is gained? Because I'm looking on Twitter and opinion it almost universally against her running at the Trials, for the chaos it will cause to the standings, and the distraction it will create. Even people who believe Houlihan are posting they think it's wrong to race the Trials. I feel like there is a shift in opinion here, and things are really turning against her.

I say good for her. If this is the last race she can ever do - considering she won't be able to go to the Olympics until 2028 meaning she'd have to become a 10k runner or marathoner, then she should go all out and set a record.

I believe Shelby, I do believe in you being responsible for what you put in your body, bur that should not warrant a 4 year ban. 1-2 years is good enough.

Go Shelby!

Barry Badrinath wrote:

Are You Serious wrote:

1. Probably

2. No idea, but USATF probably have what they believe is a valid reason (beyond "it's under appeal" ) that they haven't publicly disclosed yet.

3. I suppose that technically they could be banned for running with Houlihan. But it is highly unlikely that World Athletics would ban US athletes just because the USATF went crazy. If I were one of the other runners, there is no chance that I would drop out of the race.

Remember, the other athletes didn't volunteer to run against a banned runner. They qualified for a race that later they found out a banned runner would be put in.

IAAF is probably going to come out with a statement today. If this is really a game of chicken, IAAF will state that they will ban all runners who compete against Shelby at the trials.

Maybe the would with a sh*thole country, but no one is going to mess with the MF U.S.

Bro, this is brilliant. This would make great TV. There's a Chipotle on University St. I'll grab maybe 5-6 and leave them wrapped in the aluminum foil and chuck them on the track in front of Shelby before the race starts.. .reminds me of when Brooks flied that plane over the Trials!! Based on my seats, it's a big throw, but I'm sure I'll be able to walk around. #STOPSHELBY

take a knee wrote:

I will be there and I'm throwing a Burrito at her.