Malcolm Gladwell: Why Was the Decision in Shelby Houlihan’s Doping Case So Unsatisfying?

the first commenter Jeremy Faust has a perfect response:

Now, to this story. I think your conjecture makes sense. But I think it’s still too reckless on her part to be credible. What you said about supplements having all manner of illegal substances is VERY well known to athletes. If you’re worried about your career and don’t want to dope, you simply do not ingest these products that you’re talking about. You order the Walgreens version. (You could also write about athletes’ weird obsession with nutritional supplements that are not even necessary. 99% of what they need is in a Flintstones vitamin).

I think if your theory were true, she would’ve said “I used a supplement from the store. I want it tested to see if they contain anything they’re not supposed to. Here’s the bottle!” Very easy! She would have proof that she was a victim.

I think what happened was close to what you say. She took a supplement that she (or her coaches or both) knew had banned substances. But the nandro was supposed to be modified to breakdown in days, not weeks. But sometimes metabolism changes (if she takes certain drugs or even foods, a drug that should normally be entirely cleared from the blood in days could take weeks to be cleared). That’s what I think happened. They thought they’d be in the clear. They forgot about variance.

Blaming a burrito is what a guilty person does, in my opinion.

It was satisfying. The only way it could be more satisfying is if Shelburrito came clean with what really happened. It is very rare for someone to do that though.

Tainted peds is the most plausible scenario IMO.

Clean sport collective (finally) did a podcast about this and in the last 20 minutes of it they discuss the Houlihan case.

https://cleansport.libsyn.com/episode-92

Kara actually addressed some of the questions in the snippet that Gladwell left.

1. Yes, (according to Kara) nandrolone IS a performance enhancing drug. Yes, athletes get popped for it. Apparently it was the 3rd ranked drug that Kenyans tested pos for in 2018. She also makes a good point about how "stupid" Shelby was to take it. "Isn't anything you get popped for stupid"? EPO? Stupid. Marijuana? really stupid.

2. We also have to let go of this myth that athletes are this brand of super human with special minds and special discipline. They aren't. Sure they have more physical ability and they eat generally better than most but remember that all Shelby had to eat on that fateful day before the burrito was a piece of cheese cake. I eat better than that. Sha'Carri Richardson was popped for weed DURING THE OLYMPIC TRIALS. It's not inconcievable that athletes can do "stupid" things.

So I don't want to hear "But whyyyy would she use nandrolone" anymore.

The decision was satisfying. And you can apply the "stupid" theory to anyone using PEDS or committing a crime. Stealing a car is "stupid" yet people do it. Drug use is "stupid" yet people do it. Unprotected sex with a stranger is "stupid" yet people do it. Shelby's sample was positive. She was banned. She didn't give any plausible explanation. Upholding her ban is satisfying and good for the sport. Who cares what "stupid" reason she did it.

I want to add something re: Shelby. It appears that all people who aren't still sucking on the bowerman teat believe the following:

It definitely wasn't the burrito (sorry twoggle turtle)

It isn't a "trace" amount.

She either was purposefully doping and was popped OR

she took a supplement not knowing what was in it.

And I think she knows all this too. And what is more, I absolutely think she knows exactly where the nandrolone DID come from on January 14th, and isn't telling us. Instead she chose to lie to everyone. So even if it was an "accident" I have no respect for her anymore. Because I am 100% sure she knows.

The question I have is for the Bowerman camp. How much do they know? Does Jerry, Shalane and her teammates really believe this came from a burrito still? Did they ever? Do they know, and are they in on it? Does Jerry believe a clean athlete can run a 14:23 and close in a 60? Or do you think their abilities are more in the 14:50s range, kind of like 2021 Karissa...

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them.

oinion wrote:

2. Sure they have more physical ability and they eat generally better than most but remember that all Shelby had to eat on that fateful day before the burrito was a piece of cheese cake.

Yes and for someone who thinks they need a huge treasure trove of vitamins/supplements, what you eat on a typical day is cheesecake and a beef burrito?

“We tested all of my vitamins and supplements which all came back negative. Unfortunately, there were a couple that we didn’t have the original batches of because I was notified a month later and those supplements were already consumed,” shared Houlihan.

-So much for your body is your temple.

Question:

If Shelby was in fact taking a supplement(s) why didn't she disclose it to investigators? Was she the victim of a contaminated batch of some off-market supplement? She didn't offer this up in her "Story" defense, thus it must not have happened. Right? So where did the Nandrolone come from? Was the burrito story recommended by her legal team as the most plausible excuse in which they deemed the best chance to be exonerated? Also, the time of year she was tested doesn't help her case. The winter months (December/January/February) when most endurance athletes are not on PED cycles, and if so not very aggressive, and given the fact that out-of-season testing was limited due to Covid issues, it seems likely that Shelby thought she could slip in a micro-dose or two without being tested.

Clearly defined, "Nandrolone has been shown to increase lean body mass (LBM) and improve physical performance, and resistance exercise training has been shown to increase strength and improve physical performance" Looking at the pic of her and Lopez Lomong on another post sure seems to show some serious LBM.

It appears that Malcolm could examine Monica Lewinsky’s stained dress, receive the DNA results and then declare Bill Clinton too intelligent to have engaged in such potentially risky behavior. You see Malcolm, human beings are complicated. This might not entirely compute with your worldview but it is the truth.

Monkeyooo wrote:

It appears that Malcolm could examine Monica Lewinsky’s stained dress, receive the DNA results and then declare Bill Clinton too intelligent to have engaged in such potentially risky behavior. You see Malcolm, human beings are complicated. This might not entirely compute with your worldview but it is the truth.

+1

it's ridiculous to ruminate over how "stupid" it is. People do stupid and risky things all the time.

Again.

Sha'Carri and weed...at the Olympic trials.

Lance and all the drugs post cancer diagnosis

any athlete and EPO

I agree that the most likely true story is a contaminated - and if you think it was a legal one or not probably depends on how much you like Shelby - The most Shelby friendly version goes , once the positive test was announced and they saw it was an innocent mistake, they had a choice. Fight it with a story that gives them the chance to essentially get off scott free or admit to inadvertent fault and take a hit the olympics and next years world champs with the obligatory 2 year ban. I think they rolled the dice to get off scott free and it went poorly for them.

rojo wrote:

The more I think about Gladwell's piece, the more I think his title should not have a question mark at the end of it. He's making a statement, not asking a question. It should be "Why Was the Decision in Shelby Houlihan’s Doping Case So Unsatisfying" not "Why Was the Decision in Shelby Houlihan’s Doping Case So Unsatisfying?"

LRC note. This post was edited as it initially included a typo.

You still didn't get it right.

She was either micro dosing nandrolone or she knew the source of contamination, and it was cross contamination in a shady lab making some other banned/controlled PED she was taking.

Gladwell wants to believe BTC because he’s a fan (was also a NOP fan, I believe!). Dude, you’re smarter than this, this group is highly suspect now.

420 miler wrote:

It was satisfying. The only way it could be more satisfying is if Shelburrito came clean with what really happened. It is very rare for someone to do that though.

Tainted peds is the most plausible scenario IMO.

I don’t think anything needed to be tainted. The test for Nandrolone doesn’t require that the athlete have absolutely none in their system. There is a limit (well above the human normal if I recall correctly) and my guess is that Shelby (and probably many other pros) regularly dose themselves up to that limit. I mean, why not? It has some benefit and is completely legal as long as no one is caught red-handed with the drug or goes over the limit.

The issue becomes when either too big a dose is administered or the body didn’t fully clear the prior dose.

Finito wrote:

rojo wrote:

The more I think about Gladwell's piece, the more I think his title should not have a question mark at the end of it. He's making a statement, not asking a question. It should be "Why Was the Decision in Shelby Houlihan’s Doping Case So Unsatisfying" not "Why Was the Decision in Shelby Houlihan’s Doping Case So Unsatisfying?"

LRC note. This post was edited as it initially included a typo.

You still didn't get it right.

Does he ever?

And it wasn’t a TYPO, it was like 1/5 of a thought

I keep hearing the "nandrolone doesn't make sense" argument. Why does it need to make sense? Her motivations aren't in question here. There was no performance enhancement when Richardson smoked pot. Its banned and she got popped for it. End of story.

For fun though - let's go down that rabbit hole. Nandrolone is literally used by body builders to put on lean muscle. In my opinion, that would be incredibly beneficial to a runner putting in high mileage. There's literally 1000 threads on this site talking about how your optimal racing weight isn't always the lowest possible number. It stands to reason that putting on lean muscle when you are on the verge of being underweight makes a heck of a lot of sense.

"But, but but, she took it orally, and that's pointless".....maybe so, but it also leaves your body much more quickly that way, which is the very basis of micro-dosing.

Now, I'm not some heartless savage. I do believe the truth is somewhere in the middle. My theory is that she took something contaminated with nandrolone, and pig offal was just the best excuse she had.

THOUGHTSLEADER wrote:

oinion wrote:

2. Sure they have more physical ability and they eat generally better than most but remember that all Shelby had to eat on that fateful day before the burrito was a piece of cheese cake.

Yes and for someone who thinks they need a huge treasure trove of vitamins/supplements, what you eat on a typical day is cheesecake and a beef burrito?

“We tested all of my vitamins and supplements which all came back negative. Unfortunately, there were a couple that we didn’t have the original batches of because I was notified a month later and those supplements were already consumed,” shared Houlihan.

-So much for your body is your temple.

agreed, but to be fair, the vitamin/supplement industry is the wild west when it comes to regulation. You don't know what's in that sh*t.

The only people still buying the BTC line that "nandrolone doesn't help a distance runner" are the Brojo's and Jonathan.

Nandrolone helps build lean muscle, if lean muscle is of no use to a distance runner, then what's the point of all the lifting that they do? Kate Grace attributed her improvement this year to increased lifting. The BTC men are always talking about how much time they spend in the gym. So, does lean muscle help distance runners or not? Does Jerry need to tell his boys to get out of the weight room?