June 16, 2021 – One of America’s top runners says eating a pork burrito likely caused a positive steroid test that resulted in her being banned from participating in the US Olympics.
Shelby Houlihan, 28, competed for the United States in the 2016 Summer Games and holds American records for the 1,500 and 5,000 meter races. At this year’s Summer Games in Tokyo, she was a favorite to win a medal.
In an Instagram post, she said she learned Monday that the Sports Arbitration Court’s Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had confirmed her four-year ban.
“I feel completely devastated, lost, broken, angry, confused and betrayed by the very sport I loved and poured myself into just to see how good I was,” she said in the Post . “I want to be very clear. I’ve never taken any performance-enhancing substances. And that includes what I’ve been accused of.”
Houlihan said she received an email in January from the Athletics Integrity Unit informing her that a drug test dated December 15, 2020 came back positive for nandrolone.
The National Institutes of Health say nandrolone is an anabolic steroid analog of testosterone that can increase nitrogen retention and lean muscle mass.
She said she kept a record of everything she ate during that time.
“We concluded that the most likely explanation was a burrito that was bought and consumed about 10 hours prior to that drug test from an authentic Mexican food truck serving pork offal near my home in Beaverton, Oregon,” she wrote.
“Since then I have learned that the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) has long understood that the consumption of pork can lead to a false positive nandrolone, as certain types of pigs naturally produce it in large quantities. Pig organs (innards) have the highest levels of nandrolone, ”she continued.
Houlihan appealed the suspension, saying she went so far as to take a polygraph test and have her hair checked for evidence of steroids, but the appeal was denied.
The New York Times reported that AIU chief Brett Clothier said the case had been handled properly.
“Following the indictment by the AIU, Ms. Houlihan’s case was heard by a three-person panel at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which made its decision after hearing evidence and arguments from the athlete’s attorneys and the AIU,” Clothier said in an e- Mail.
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