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

agip wrote:

Are You Serious wrote:

I agree. I've seen USATF do a number of dumb things over the years, but giving the middle finger to the International Olympic Committee and the CAS was just completely nuts.

USATF has two masters: CAS/IOC and Nike.

Nike no doubt went to USATF and told them what was going to happen" Shelby would run.

Then the IOC/CAS weighed in, saying roughly 'yeah sure you can let her run but that would jeopardize USA track athletes from participating in the Olympics. Your call.'

So USATF had to backtrack and give her and her Nike lawyers the boot.

I’m glad they booted her but there’s a 0% chance they would ever ban all USA track athletes from the olympics.

agip wrote:

Are You Serious wrote:

I agree. I've seen USATF do a number of dumb things over the years, but giving the middle finger to the International Olympic Committee and the CAS was just completely nuts.

USATF has two masters: CAS/IOC and Nike.

Nike no doubt went to USATF and told them what was going to happen" Shelby would run.

Then the IOC/CAS weighed in, saying roughly 'yeah sure you can let her run but that would jeopardize USA track athletes from participating in the Olympics. Your call.'

So USATF had to backtrack and give her and her Nike lawyers the boot.

And that pretty much sums up this farcical escapade.

acebond wrote:

agip wrote:

USATF has two masters: CAS/IOC and Nike.

Nike no doubt went to USATF and told them what was going to happen" Shelby would run.

Then the IOC/CAS weighed in, saying roughly 'yeah sure you can let her run but that would jeopardize USA track athletes from participating in the Olympics. Your call.'

So USATF had to backtrack and give her and her Nike lawyers the boot.

And that pretty much sums up this farcical escapade.

The farce is that we will send the fourth best women’s 1500m runner to Tokyo rather than the #1.

This is not good for the sport.

She is innocent.

Lenny Leonard wrote:

The farce is that we will send the fourth best women’s 1500m runner to Tokyo rather than the #1.

This is not good for the sport.

In 2016 we didn't send our best women's 100M hurdler (who set the WR two weeks after the trials), and sent our #2, #3, and #4.

These things happen. The sport survived.

Keep the cheater out of the OT.

Lenny Leonard wrote:

acebond wrote:

And that pretty much sums up this farcical escapade.

The farce is that we will send the fourth best women’s 1500m runner to Tokyo rather than the #1.

This is not good for the sport.

Do you think it's better for the sport to send a convicted doper? What message does that send to younger American middle distance runners?

The farce is that we will send the fourth best women’s 1500m runner to Tokyo rather than the #1.

This is not good for the sport.[/quote]

So letting cheaters compete is "good for the sport"? The US would be pilloried - and rightly so. The "farce" is that you have previously said you don't care about doping. Your integrity is on show once more.

Take a big step back and look at this situation, there are some serious question marks about how Jerry handled this situation that raise suspicion.

1. Shelby tested positive in January and he hides it from the team for five months.

2. When new does break, he break his reclusive character and comes out on a soap box about the corruption of International Doping Agencies.

3. He advocates for his convicted athlete to be reinstated in the Olympic Trials at the potential expense of his other athletes.

If I'm in the BTC camp right now gearing up for the Trials, I would be majorly rattled. Our top athlete tested positive for a steroid, had a paper thin defense, and lost unanimously in her appeal and my coaches hid all of this while I prepared for the Trials. If they are capable of doing all of that, what makes it such a stretch that they'd be capable of hiding a drug regime for her?

If you don't think it's possible Nike and Jerry have been investing "different resources" into Shelby, you're not looking at this squarely.

crete wrote:

This is just farcical from start to finish. USATF have basically proven themselves to be poorly managed dimwits. They should never have let her enter in the first place due to the doping ban. The rules are clear, and this means they either (1) didn't know the rules or (2) knew them but decided to ignore them. Either of those 2 situations is terrible.

HEY BROJOS - how about doing some real journalism? Can you investigate the role Nike played in coercing USATF in to letting her back in?

At what point do we get sick of Nike and the fact that they basically own USATF?

They are writing about both sides of the story. What more do you want

westsouthrunner wrote:

crete wrote:

This is just farcical from start to finish. USATF have basically proven themselves to be poorly managed dimwits. They should never have let her enter in the first place due to the doping ban. The rules are clear, and this means they either (1) didn't know the rules or (2) knew them but decided to ignore them. Either of those 2 situations is terrible.

HEY BROJOS - how about doing some real journalism? Can you investigate the role Nike played in coercing USATF in to letting her back in?

At what point do we get sick of Nike and the fact that they basically own USATF?

They are writing about both sides of the story. What more do you want

"Both sides of the story" is what the CAS decision dealt with. An independent judicial panel decided they weren't convinced by Houlihan's "side". There is no equivalence between the CAS decision and Houlihan's excuses - as with any other conviction in a court.

Lenny Leonard wrote:

acebond wrote:

And that pretty much sums up this farcical escapade.

The farce is that we will send the fourth best women’s 1500m runner to Tokyo rather than the #1.

This is not good for the sport.

She wouldn’t be #1 though without the burritos.

GnomeBe wrote:

She is innocent.

She has been proven guilty and lost her appeal. End of story.

She wouldn't be number 1 without the burritos.

If Houlihan gets dropped by Nike, she can always do commercials for Chipotle. Right now she is the most famous burrito eater in the country.

"Want to be number 1 just like me? Come to Chipotle and get a burrito!"

OR

"If I had been eating Chipotle burritos instead of burritos from a lunch truck, I'd have an Olympic Medal right now!"

GnomeBe wrote:

She is innocent.

Innocent? Are you saying her test wasn't over the limit?

Or are you saying she's innocent because she ate the wrong burrito?

So has the (fake) news reached a verdict yet on whether she's racing? They've changed their story a few times already.

GnomeBe wrote:

She is innocent.

I hope she sees this bro

STEVE THE ADDICT^^^^^^""""-""""-'--"--^' wrote:

So has the (fake) news reached a verdict yet on whether she's racing? They've changed their story a few times already.

Houlihan is still listed in tomorrow's heat sheets for the first rounds of the 1500 and 5k, but USATF claims that she will eventually be removed from the heat sheets and she will not actually be running.