When Shelby Houlihan was served a four-year doping ban in 2021, it wasn’t clear what would happen if and when she returned to the sport.
Now, six months after she resumed racing, she’s re-established herself as one of the nation’s top distance runners. On Sunday, she won her 13th national title, claiming victory in the 5,000 meters at the USATF Outdoor Championships in a time of 15:13.61.
Houlihan’s former teammate, Elise Cranny, placed second in 15:14.26, and Josette Andrews was third in 15:15.01. Because all three already have the World Championship standard, they’ll head to Tokyo in September to represent Team USA at the World Athletics Championships.
“I felt like I’ve been working really hard the last four or five years to maintain that fitness and come back as well as I could, so I felt like it was there,” Houlihan told reporters after the race. “It was just whether or not I could get my body feeling good on the day.”
Though she didn’t feel great from the beginning, she said, the early laps didn’t test her much. The event began at a pedestrian pace, with Brooks Beast Allie Buchalski taking the women through the first 1600 meters in 5:11.01.
But the race truly began at around the 4,000-meter mark, when Andrews pushed her way to the front and dropped the pace, covering the second-to-last lap in 66.28. At the bell, she maintained the lead, with Cranny, Bailey Hertenstein, and Houlihan following.
“I knew I had a few gears left, so my only job with a k[ilometer] to go is just to stay in contact with the front,” Houlihan said.
Heading into the final turn, Hertenstein was in first. But coming out of it, Houlihan—who’s still the American record holder in the 1,500 meters—unleashed her still-lethal kick to charge ahead, running the final 200 meters in 30.56 seconds.
Houlihan’s suspension came after an out-of-competition drug test in December of 2020 detected the banned anabolic steroid nandrolone in her system. She’s maintained her innocence—citing a tainted pork burrito—and appealed her suspension to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. But that appeal was denied, The Stats Behind Cooper Lutkenhaus’s Race.
The 32-year-old returned to the track in February, winning the 3,000 meters at the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Feb. 1. In March, she earned her first-ever medal at a global championship—a silver in the 3,000 meters at the 2025 World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China.
Houlihan split from her sponsor, Nike, after the suspension. She trains mostly alone—lining up with friends and former teammates when she can—and is coached by her sister Shayla and her boyfriend, Riley Wattier, a former track athlete at Arizona State University.
She raced today in a kit from her new sponsor Easyday, a small apparel company based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her agreement with them allows her to seek a shoe deal, too, but thus far she hasn’t secured one.
While others may have questioned whether she’d return, Houlihan said after the race she never doubted herself. At moments, she still feels angry about the missed years. But she’s largely trying to look forward, and said that while she has her share of negative comments online, most of the interactions she’s had in person have been positive and supportive.
Andrews, who came into the race as the favorite, said she was excited to go to Tokyo and compete for a medal—and had no qualms about having Houlihan as a teammate.
“Honestly, she’s served her ban and after four years, it’s really impressive for her to come back and get an indoor medal and make the team,” Andrews told reporters in the mixed zone. “She deserves to be on the team; she finished top three.”
Houlihan said she’s grateful to have the opportunity again to prove what she’s capable of, and has her sights set on another global medal as well. “I don’t have to sit at home and watch this year,” she told reporters after the race. “It feels like a full circle moment, going to Tokyo, finally.”
—Theo Kahler contributed to this report.
Cindy is a freelance health and fitness writer, author, and podcaster who’s contributed regularly to Runner’s World since 2013. She’s the coauthor of both Breakthrough Women’s Running: Dream Big and Train Smart and Rebound: Train Your Mind to Bounce Back Stronger from Sports Injuries, a book about the psychology of sports injury from Bloomsbury Sport. Cindy specializes in covering injury prevention and recovery, everyday athletes accomplishing extraordinary things, and the active community in her beloved Chicago, where winter forges deep bonds between those brave enough to train through it.
