The American record-holding Olympian announced on Instagram she’s been banned from running competitions for four years after the anabolic steroid nandrolone was found in her system. However, she declares that she never took the drug. But rather, ingested it from a pork burrito.
What We Know:
- On January 14, Houlihan received an email from the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) which broke the news to her. After this, she learned that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) found that eating pork could result in false positives for the steroid. The WADA states that certain types of pigs produce it naturally in large amounts. They also noted that the pig organ meat, known as offal, contains the highest levels of nandrolone.
- To prove her innocence, Houlihan made a list of everything she ate leading up to her December 15 test. She found that she ate at an authentic Mexican food truck that serves offal ten hours before her exam. Once Houlihan recorded this, she immediately notified the AIU.
- Despite this, officials did not believe her explanation. Last Friday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport informed Houlihan they did not accept her interpretation of things and prohibited her from participating in the sport until 2025. This means she will not run in this year’s Tokyo Olympics.
- Houlihan felt completely devastated and upset by this outcome. In her Instagram post, she mentioned that the WADA agreed her test showed no buildup of nandrolone in her body, so she did not regularly take the drug. In addition, she passed a polygraph and toxicologists analyzed a hair sample. Although evidence and lab results demonstrated her innocence, the lab still concluded she took the steroid orally. Furthermore, Houlihan thinks officials dismissed her case without due process.
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- She concluded her post by reminding her followers she has never taken any performance-enhancing substances. This comes from her belief in pushing her body to the limit “just to see where the limit is.” She also emphasized that she runs not for money, but because she loves the sport.
Throughout her time as a runner, Houlihan contributed several landmarks to the sport. In October 2019, she set the American 1,500-meter record of 3 minutes, 54.99 seconds at the world championships in Doha, Qatar. Additionally, she broke the U.S. 5,000-meter mark with a time of 14:23.92 in Portland, Oregon last July.
