Shelby Houlihan participated in a very unexpected competition.
American track and field athlete Shelby Houlihan was a member of the US national team several years ago. The titled athlete even owned the North American record. She also fought for a medal at the World Championships. But the story of a failed doping test led to a scandalous disqualification.
Now Shelby, despite being suspended by WADA, is trying his hand at an unexpected sport. And even breaks world records.
“Something’s not right here”
Shelby Houlihan boasts 12 U.S. track and field championship victories. She won seven indoor titles and five more outdoors. In 2016, she represented the country at the Olympic Games in Rio, but performed unsuccessfully there, finishing 11th in the 1.5 thousand meters. Three years later, at the World Championships in Doha, she achieved the best result. Shelby stopped a step away from the prize.
In 2021, an unpleasant situation happened to Shelby. A doping test taken before the New Year gave a positive result for nandrolone. The athlete tried to save her reputation by blaming the burrito for everything. According to Houlihan, it was this Mexican dish that contained the anabolic steroid.
“I came home and thought: “Something is wrong here.” I was able to remember everything well and put the picture together. The food truck is the most likely source. My lawyer and I knew that nandrolone can be found in pork offal, and we knew that I ate them in a burrito 10 hours before the test, Cronkite News quotes the words of the athlete.
But the lawyers failed to defend the runner. In June of the same year, she received a four-year suspension, which will end only on January 13, 2025. Prior to that, she is prohibited from participating in official competitions of the International Association of Athletics Federations.
Photo: © Stephen McCarthy / Contributor / Sportsfile / Gettyimages.ru
World record
Houlihan is now 30 years old. A year and a half later, when the disqualification ends, she will still be able to perform at a high level.
During a forced pause, Shelby decided to try her hand at a related discipline. The Beer Mile is a fairly popular competition in which athletes overcome four laps around the stadium. They also take breaks to “refuel” with an alcoholic drink after every 400 meters.
According to the rules of such competitions, athletes must drink one bottle of beer with a volume of at least 350 ml. The strength of the drink must be at least 5% alcohol. At the same time, the organizers do not have any requirements regarding the use of doping by athletes.
It was this circumstance that allowed Houlihan to take part in the competition. However, the organizers, just in case, did not allow the athlete to compete in the women’s standings. She ran with the men, becoming the only representative of the weaker sex in this race.
Track and field training allowed Houlihan to show a fantastic result for this sport. She became the first woman in the world to run out of six minutes in a time of 5:43.81. The athlete outstripped even some of the men from her race. If we compare this time with the best time of the winner in the women’s classification (6:03), then we get a whole abyss.
Photo: © Personal archive of Shelby Houlihan
– I did not regret the decision to participate in the “Beer Mile” at all, it was a lot of fun. Yes, it’s a little creepy to run past those special places to vomit, but I tried not to look there. I had a great time anyway,” Shelby said after the competition.
After the race ended, Houlihan was presented with a commemorative plaque stating that she had broken the world record. To celebrate, the athlete even ran with the American flag past the stands with fans. And in social networks, the achievement of the American was also noted extremely emotionally. There are more skeptics, but there are also those who supported the athlete’s undertaking.
“Beer and burritos go great together,” Elon Sus jokes.
– Incredible! Imagine what she would have shown at the “burrito mile,” Kevin Montresor echoes him.
“Shelby Houlihan just needs to find a hobby,” says David.
— This is an incredibly cool achievement for the “beer mile”. Congratulations! – sincerely happy for the HurnDAWG athlete.
“There should be a parade in honor of this!” concludes Bluehawki.
2023-07-03 14:54:55
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