One of the bigger stories in the running world happening this week is that American 1500 record holder Shelby Houlihan is returning to competition for the first time since completing her four-year drug ban.
When Olympic Trials winner Nikki Hiltz was asked about Houlihan's return to the sport in November by Runner's World's Sarah Lorge Butler, Hiltz only had nice things to say about Houlihan.
“I don’t want her to be booed on the start line,” said Hiltz, whose 3:55.33 for 1500 meters pb is just 0.34 seconds off of Houlihan’s American record. “It makes me feel sad and uncomfortable, but at the same time, there probably will be some controversy with her coming back in the sport. She might get booed, or she might get harassed online, or whatever it is. As someone who has dealt with that to my own extent [Hiltz identifies as nonbinary], I’m never wishing that upon anyone, and I hope she’s treated with love and respect.”
However, a LetsRun messageboard poster noticed in another thread that Hiltz had some much harsher words about Houlihan last summer when Hiltz was a guest on the Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness podcast.
"She's homophobic. She's been heard to be homophobic before...It sounds like the call is coming from inside the house. There is some internalized homophobia going on," said Hiltz with a laugh.
Hiltz said this after specifically contrasting Houlihan to this 2024's competitors whom Hiltz said didn't include a "single person who is a bad person" and whom Hiltz described as being "so wholesome."
Hiltz is scheduled to compete at BU on Friday and will reach out to Hiltz for comment about the remarks after Hiltz's race.