Shelby Houlihan is having a DISASTER outdoor season

You beat me to it. But no, the AIU did not make up for that decrease.

Due to limited resources, these organizations need to prioritize their testing to the more suspicious athletes.

One can also call you a liar if your sentiment is not as genuine as her burrito alibi.

And since you just lied about that, one can call you a liar regardless of your sentiment.

But not me.

In this case, to the competing ones. Houlihan couldn't have had any success in 2023 because she got caught doping and banned. No point for the AIU to spend their resources on dopers during their ban. Prior to her return in 2025, the AIU put her back into the RTP in 2024.

Or are you implying that the AIU restarted her testing because USADA reported suspicious tests from her?

14:23.92, but to be fair without superspikes which seem to aid in the 5-10s range.

Her annual testing totals decreased while she was serving her ban but I don’t think that matters much. Out of competition tests are unannounced and I don’t believe athletes are playing Russian roulette with their doping schedules, glowing for periods but taking the chance that they don’t get the call while hot. Sadly, I think dopers are confident that their levels and substances are below detection levels—they’re microdosing or they’re using a newer product that they don’t believe is going to be found using a standard test.

But just as their training puts them on a knife edge balancing between maximum fitness and injury or exhaustion, their doping regimes probably have them walking a fine line between performance improvement without detection and testing positive. I think Houlihan crossed the line accidentally and tested positive. I wish I believed she was an isolated case.

Well for the AIU they’d only test her if she got to a relevant performance level, which she promptly did. Shelby’s testing level was so high for many years, there certainly is a possibility there was targeted testing brought on by USADA/AIU.

I do think they dose more, such as so that they keep glowing for a day or two. Why? Because a) they feel the need to outdo each other, b) out of competition tests are very rare*, c) they can always quickly start masking and diluting if the tester comes (they do not need to open the door within 5 minutes), and d) if the glowing is too extreme, they can hide inside (2x in 12 months without consequences).

* Look for example here (focus on UK):

theguardian.com

Large number of GB athletes not drug tested before 2022 world championships

https://www.theguardian.com/profile/seaningle

AIU has revealed that 16 of 73 competitors from Great Britain were untested in 10 months before last year???s World Athletics Championships

Open link

"Average number of out-of-competition tests was 2.42" in the last 10 months before worlds 2022 - that is just 1 test every 124 days!

Focus on USA:

3wiresports.com

One in five U.S. athletes not tested before Eugene, and other nuggets | 3 Wire Sports

Alan Abrahamson

BUDAPEST – Americans often take a holier-than-thou position when it comes to the anti-doping system. Indeed, U.S. athletes are typically heard to say something like, we get tested more. The upshot: you can trust our results m...

Open link

"- 18% of the 142-member U.S. team, essentially one in five, did not have even one out-of-competition (from here on, OOC) test in the prescribed period, 10 months before the Eugene championships
- No team in the world – none – came remotely close to the United States in the uh-oh combo of 1/ no OOC and 2/ top-eight finish. The Americans produced six. Next: Brazil, two. Four countries had one: Britain, Spain, Poland and France. The other 33 in the analysis: zero."

** This of course changes sooner or later if you keep recording suspicious levels, see Houlihan's increased numbers since 2018.

here we go!...

blah, blah, presumptions, blah, blah, mumble, mumble, flying pigs, blah, blah, mumble, 💉

I forget that she competed without super spikes.
That makes her 14:23 equivalent to roughly around 14:12 w/ super shoes (a few ticks faster than Alicia Monson’s record.)

That means she’s about 30 seconds off her peak in the 5000. It will be interesting to see if she is timing her peak just right or if it’s time to transition into professional pacesetter duties.

This is what happens when you have to stop doping because you got caught. Cheaters out.

Monson's mark is dated enough to miss the current advantage a bit.

Also in the listing of competitors for the 5000. She is racing soon and will see where she is. She might be pushing it too much because she is running out of time. She might be just in the 10,000, but ignoring her completely seems odd.

I was giving him(/her?) the benefit of the doubt, while still pointing out the fallacy in the post.

I’m not sure if this poster is young and doesn’t understand how the pro training cycle works, or at least how Schumacher (not coaching Houlihan directly, but still influencing how Shayla coaches obviously) has always structured things?

They usually come up for a big peak in February/March and then go back to a lot of base and strength workouts, with less quality until about 3 weeks before USAs. The goal is always to peak at Worlds. Schumacher trained athletes are almost always the best peaked, amongst American distance runners, when it comes to outdoor Championships vs. the months which precede them.

Other coaches(Mike Smith, Diljeet, Bosshard, kinda Ritzenhein…) tend to focus on quality for too much of the year and that is why their athletes often don’t peak as well for the Championships and the diamond League finals.

I think she’s just focusing on the wrong event(s). Should be 5K/10K or even just 10K. Too old or just out of it too long to be competitive in the 1500 this year

I still think she has a good shot at the 5K team of Valby is hurt

When Shelby completed her ban, I said that the her first year back was going to be tough. A lot of expectations not only from herself, but also the elite running community. She's in a "No win" situation, as she should be, and has to ride out the remainder of the season the best she can. If she runs fast, no one really cares. If she runs slow, she's off the juice and everyone says "I told you so". If she can make the WC Team in the 5000m that would be HUGE for her. Making two WC teams in a year (indoor and out) sounds like a successful year to me. No matter the strength of the field, just to compete at the elite level again after a 4 year layoff is admirable. I think her mindset going into the off season will be much better with less stress. The only real issue is her age, and moving up to the 5000 and potentially 10,000 should be a priority over the next 3 years leading to L.A. 2028. Her fast 1500m days are behind her.

Yup just two bad races, other than that her last few years have gone swimmingly!

A rising tide lifts all boats. If she’s past her prime in the 1500m, it will be the same thing in the 5000/10000m.

The benefit of the doubt?? Then why did you write "you just lied about that"??? What a troll. Still upset that your fave druggie slipped up and forgot to install a quiet doorbell?