Ok so she doped. She missed 2 Olympic cycles in the prime of her career that she'll never get back.
Can't we just accept that she served her punishment, and move on? I don't see the need to keep booing her, or pretend she doesn't even exist like Citius mag.
Since you asked politely, I’ll tell what I believe: Shelby intentionally took PEDs in an attempt to run faster in races. And she was successful at that. I don’t know who else dopes at the highest levels of the sport, although I suspect it’s a disappointingly large percentage. I have no idea if Jerry and Shalane knew, if others in that group are doping, but Shelby did and got caught.
I don’t know if this is good science (and don’t really care), but I believe she continues to benefit from having run those faster times while doping. Even if she achieved her best results and ran her best workouts while using PEDs, while she’s pushing herself now (while I hope clean) she’s trying to hit marks and run times her body knows she’s already done. She benefits from those PEDs-supported workouts and races now even if she’s been clean for four years. If she and a bunch of Americans are trying to run sub-3:55, she’s the one who’s been there before, who knows what it takes, for whom it will be familiar territory. I don’t think that’s an advantage that ever goes away as long as you’re still training at the highest level possible.
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
The read sad parts are 1) that the doper gets to keep her American Records (and medals and prize money) and 2) that Jerry and Shalane and certain other team members were obviously involved, given their unconditional support of the doper.
Ok so she doped. She missed 2 Olympic cycles in the prime of her career that she'll never get back.
Can't we just accept that she served her punishment, and move on? I don't see the need to keep booing her, or pretend she doesn't even exist like Citius mag.
Her comeback resembles the 2nd term of Trump. Expect great things!
It's not just a case of her doing her time. There has to be restitution for those denied opportunities by her actions; athletes will have lost earnings and sponsorship opportunities by coming in behind a cheater.
This is like having a convicted felon move to your block. They did the crime and served the time. They have the right to live where they want, but you probably will not invite them to your pool party or allow them to babysit your kids. You are probably going to buy an alarm system and join the neighborhood watch. When they get a shiny new car or have a visitor swing by late in the evening, your first thought is going to always be, “Hmmm…”.
This is Houlihan’s life going forward and how 80% of the fans are going to react.
If she came out and apologized for it then I would have given her respect and a second chance. But she still acted in denial of ever doing it to begin with, which made me lose more respect for her.
This. She still won't own up to it. Still playing the victim. Still running with the burrito excuse all these years later. It's an insult to everyone's intelligence. If you take the doping conviction at face value, then her behavior is objectively sociopathic.
Let’s say I’m ~80% sure that she doped, but there’s at least a 20% chance that the test that USATF uses are noisy or too sensitive or something like that.
With those beliefs, I think a 4-year ban is appropriate and she is welcome to compete. I won’t cheer for her but I wouldn’t boo her either or anything like that. If I were 100% sure she had doped, I’d say lifetime ban.
(Shelby does not need to be a hero for us to believe that the anti-doping monitors of track are incompetent or corrupt. We also don’t need a specific hypothesis about how they messed up to think that it’s at 20% likely that they did.)
I can agree that she did her time and should be allowed to compete. I can't say that erases the sour taste in my mouth about her results nor that I root for her.
She is giving herself a lifetime ban, by not being honest or taking accountability. She could have ended it herself once the ban was over. She had four years to rebuild her image. She doesn’t really seem have the personality to be all that likable.
Ok so she doped. She missed 2 Olympic cycles in the prime of her career that she'll never get back.
Can't we just accept that she served her punishment, and move on? I don't see the need to keep booing her, or pretend she doesn't even exist like Citius mag.
She didn’t just dope - she blatantly cheated. She cheated others out of titles and records. She cheated and others lost out financially.
But what is 1000 x worse is that she has repeatedly lied and completely failed to accept any responsibility for her actions. She doped and has never, ever apologised for her disgusting behaviour; behaviour is that is utterly unacceptable and unforgivable.
Let’s say I’m ~80% sure that she doped, but there’s at least a 20% chance that the test that USATF uses are noisy or too sensitive or something like that.
With those beliefs, I think a 4-year ban is appropriate and she is welcome to compete. I won’t cheer for her but I wouldn’t boo her either or anything like that. If I were 100% sure she had doped, I’d say lifetime ban.
(Shelby does not need to be a hero for us to believe that the anti-doping monitors of track are incompetent or corrupt. We also don’t need a specific hypothesis about how they messed up to think that it’s at 20% likely that they did.)
They should let it go. Pay attention to the judgmental people though, they are sometimes the sleaziest and lowest IQ. They like to criticize the thing they didn't do, but dont want people judging them on bad they've done that Shelby or their target wouldn't.
Now I get it--does make sense to be skeptical that a cheater has not changed. Most cheaters are in fact of the serial variety. A lower percentage would be remorseful and learn enough to never make that play again. With the judgment harsh by default, why not take the high ground and give someone who served the time the benefit of the doubt? It's possible.