Doping in Sports

    In June of 2021 American distance runner Shelby Houlihan learned that she tested positive for an anabolic steroid called nandrolone. She received a four year ban from completion and also lost her appeal though she stated that it was a false positive due to a pork burrito she ate from a food truck under 12 hours before her test was taken. 

    Shelby Houlihan is the American record holder in the 1500-meter and 5000-meter run. She is also from Iowa which being an Iowan myself made her one of my favorite runners. In 2018 I competed in Nike Cross Country Regionals-Heartland where she attended the spaghetti dinner the night before the race where I got to meet her, my first track olympian, get a picture with her and her autograph. I idolized and looked up to her as a runner, well that was until the news of her failed test came out. 

    When you look up to someone you don't want to believe they could do any wrong and the idea of her testing for a banned substance shocked me. Even though her and her coaches claim it was an accident and she didn't knowingly do it a lot of the story doesn't add up. It also leads me to question any athlete I look up to. Are they taken banned substances? Are they as good as they are without the help of drugs? Are they truly clean? Watching the documentary Icarus only intensified that distrust. With seeing how a massive doping program was able to be so successful for so long it makes you think can you really look up to your favorite athletes for the hard work they put in to be as good and accomplished as they are or do they rely on a performance enhancer to get them where they are rather then just their own hard work and skill?

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