The roar of the crowd, the rhythmic pounding of spikes on the track, Shelby Houlihan had heard it all before. However, this time, it carried a different weight. Once, one of the fastest middle-distance runners in American history, she had spent four years in exile, banned for doping, her name entangled in one of the American athletics’ most controversial cases in recent memory. Now, in her long-awaited return, Houlihan lined up against the best, a shot at redemption hanging in the balance. Could she still compete at the highest level? Would her body remember the grind? The answer came at the finish line.

Her comeback wasn’t just any race that unfolded at the 2025 USATF Indoor Championships on Saturday, February 22, on Staten Island. How did the race go? Let’s just say, Houlihan did excellent for an athlete, who was returning after such a hiatus. Right from the start, Shelby Houlihan set the pace, controlled the race, and stretched the field thin. But with one lap to go, the bell rang, and she dug deep, pushing for the win. But Nikki Hiltz, known for her lethal kick, surged past in the final meters. Houlihan fought but couldn’t hold her off, finishing second in 8:48.43, just behind Hiltz’s 8:48.28. A fraction of a second. That’s all that separated them from the line. Was it disappointment, or validation? 2nd place finish and time were enough to punch her ticket to the 2025 World Indoor Championships in China.

“I’m happy with the second. The biggest goal was to make the world team.” Houlihan reflected after the match in the post-match interview uploaded by LetsRundotcom yesterday. Continuing further she said, “I still have four weeks to continue sharpening up and getting ready for World.”

She also praised Nikki Hiltz for her race, “Yeah, obviously, I wanted to win, but Nicki was awesome. That last 50m, I just, like, might have it.” She said. “But yeah, that’s good information to know and things to continue working on moving forward.”

Houlihan knows her work isn’t done and securing a spot at the World Indoors is a milestone, but the real test awaits in Nanjing, China, starting 21 March. With four more weeks to sharpen, the finish line awaits! But while she has looked ahead, not everyone was ready to move on. The scrutiny hadn’t faded, and neither had the questions.

Shelby Houlihan responds to critics

Why did Shelby Houlihan, once America’s most dominant distance runner, vanish from the track? How did a single meal change the course of her career? Well in 2020, Houlihan, a multiple-time national champion and record-holder, tested positive for nandrolone, an anabolic steroid. She was stunned. Where had it come from?

Well, she maintained her innocence from the start and attributed the positive result to a contaminated pork burrito she ate in Portland. But the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) wasn’t convinced, and even after an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and the Swiss Federal Tribunal, her four-year ban was upheld.

Before the controversy, Houlihan was a force on the U.S. track scene and won titles across distances and setting the American 1,500m record. She was on track to compete for global medals. But the doping case changed everything. Her connection to the elite Bowerman Track Club dissolved, and instead of racing on the world’s biggest stages, she trained alone, far from the competition she once ruled.

And now even though she has returned to competition after serving a ban, the skepticism hasn’t faded, and it has Houlihan’s response. “No, I think I kind of made my peace with that a while ago. Yeah, like you said, there’s going to be some people I’ll never change their mind, no matter what I say or do. That’s not—that’s not really my burden, I guess,” she said in the same post-match. 

For Houlihan, the focus is on moving forward. “I’m going to go out there and do my thing. I’m going to show up as myself, be positive and kind to everybody. If they don’t want to be back, that’s on them. But it’s not going to make me change who I am.”

As Shelby Houlihan moves forward, how will people and critics react? That remains to be seen. But her immediate test awaits at the World Indoors in Nanjing!