The Battle

Summary

Snap Judgment: "The Battle" – Detailed Summary

Released: July 17, 2025

Podcast Information:

• Title: Snap Judgment
• Host/Author: Snap Judgment and PRX
• Description: Snap Judgment blends real stories with dynamic beats to create cinematic radio experiences. Their unique storytelling approach encourages listeners to view the world through diverse perspectives, offering "storytelling... with a BEAT."

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Overview

"The Battle" episode of Snap Judgment delves into the harrowing journey of Shelby Houlihan, a world-class American middle-distance runner who faced a four-year suspension due to a positive test for nandrolone, a performance-enhancing substance. The episode explores themes of integrity, the pressures of elite sports, and the quest for redemption. Additionally, the narrative touches upon challenges athletes face within anti-doping frameworks, the impact of public perception, and personal resilience.

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Section 1: The Rise of Shelby Houlihan

Timestamp: [00:02 – 04:38]

The episode opens with a dramatic reenactment inspired by Franz Kafka, setting the stage for Shelby Houlihan's story. Shelby, a decorated Olympian with multiple American track records, is introduced as a prime contender in the women's 1500 meters at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha.

Notable Quote:

• Shelby Houlihan: "I think it's still the same. Ultimately, I want to just get the most out of myself and see what I'm capable of." [04:43]

Key Points:

• Shelby's confidence on the world stage, expressing her belief in her ability to win a medal.
• Her exceptional performance in Doha, running the 1500 meters in a time unprecedented among American women.
• The heartbreak of finishing fourth, narrowly missing out on a bronze medal, setting the emotional backdrop for the ensuing turmoil.

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Section 2: The Controversial Positive Test

Timestamp: [05:04 – 10:02]

The narrative shifts to January 2021, during Shelby's training camp in Flagstaff, Arizona. She receives a confidential email from the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), informing her of a positive test for 19-norandrosterone, a metabolite of nandrolone.

Notable Quotes:

• Shelby Houlihan: "What the hell?" [08:14]
• Shelby Houlihan: "They are drawn to guilt. This is the law." [00:02 – Addressing initial arrest reenactment]

Key Points:

• The immediate shock and panic following the positive test result.
• Shelby's rigorous testing regimen, highlighting the frequency of her tests due to her high performance.
• The specifics of nandrolone, its common use in bodybuilding, and its implications in endurance sports.

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Section 3: The Burrito Theory

Timestamp: [10:09 – 21:10]

Shelby and her legal team investigate potential sources of contamination, leading to the theory that a greasy carne asada burrito consumed at a local food truck may have introduced nandrolone into her system through pig offal.

Notable Quotes:

• Shelby Houlihan: "I don't agree with it. I think it's pretty black and white. Like, I don't really think there is a gray area if you're trying to gain an advantage when you don't naturally have one." [06:46]
• Shelby Houlihan: "I was just, like, sobbing because it was just like, really overwhelming." [22:30]

Key Points:

• Detailed explanation of the investigation into the food truck's meat sourcing.
• The improbability of the meat being from uncastrated boars, which are rare in the US due to boar taint.
• Efforts to present the burrito theory as a plausible explanation for the positive test, including hiring a private investigator and submitting food samples for testing.

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Section 4: The Arbitration and the Fallout

Timestamp: [21:10 – 28:05]

Shelby appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) but faces skepticism from the AIU, which doubts the burrito theory. The CAS ultimately upholds a four-year ban, devastating Shelby's career and personal life.

Notable Quotes:

• Shelby Houlihan: "I've had dreams of running professionally, setting records, winning an Olympic gold medal." [24:48]
• CAS Decision: "They didn't think it was intentional that Shelby was doping." [24:14]

Key Points:

• The emotional and professional impact of the four-year ban, including loss of reputation and financial strain.
• Public and peer backlash, including an open letter from 31 athletes demanding her removal from the Olympic trials roster.
• Shelby's personal struggles during the suspension, including moving back with her parents and taking up odd jobs to make ends meet.

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Section 5: Redemption and Return to Competition

Timestamp: [28:05 – 38:13]

After serving her suspension, Shelby returns to competitive running. She participates in the World Beer Mile in Chicago, where she astonishingly breaks the world record by completing the race in 5 minutes and 43 seconds. Her return marks a significant comeback, concluding with her winning silver in the 3,000 meters at the 2023 World Athletics Indoor Championships in China.

Notable Quotes:

• Shelby Houlihan: "I love this sport, and I love to run, so I'm gonna keep running." [29:54]
• Shelby Houlihan: "If you don't believe me, I did the time." [38:13]

Key Points:

• The symbolic and literal overcoming of adversity through setting a new world record.
• The personal reconciliation with the sport she loves, despite the tarnished past.
• Re-establishment of her standing in the athletic community by winning a silver medal post-ban, showcasing resilience and dedication.

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Section 6: Reflections on Integrity and Trust in Sports

Timestamp: [38:13 – 27:50]

The episode concludes with reflections on the broader implications of Shelby's case on the integrity of sports and the trust placed in anti-doping organizations. It juxtaposes Shelby's sincere protest of innocence with the shadow cast by high-profile doping scandals, questioning the balance between athlete integrity and institutional trust.

Notable Quotes:

• Shelby Houlihan: "I don't think you should blindly trust anything. Don't blindly trust me." [27:29]
• Shelby Houlihan: "I think it's also a dangerous road, like, to blindly trust the anti doping organizations." [26:05]

Key Points:

• The skepticism towards anti-doping measures and the potential for wrongful accusations.
• The difficulty athletes face in restoring their reputations once accused, regardless of the outcome.
• The ongoing struggle for fairness and accuracy in sport's regulatory frameworks.

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Conclusion

"The Battle" offers an intense and emotional portrayal of Shelby Houlihan's fight against a doping accusation she maintains was unfounded. Through vivid storytelling and direct quotes, the episode captures the personal and professional toll of such allegations, the complexities of anti-doping regulations, and the enduring spirit required to overcome public scrutiny and institutional challenges. Shelby's eventual triumph serves as a testament to resilience, while also prompting listeners to ponder the delicate interplay between athlete integrity and regulatory trust.

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Notable Quotes Compilation:

• Shelby Houlihan: "I think it's still the same. Ultimately, I want to just get the most out of myself and see what I'm capable of." [04:43]
• Shelby Houlihan: "I don't agree with it. I think it's pretty black and white. Like, I don't really think there is a gray area if you're trying to gain an advantage when you don't naturally have one." [06:46]
• Shelby Houlihan: "I was just, like, sobbing because it was just like, really overwhelming." [22:30]
• Shelby Houlihan: "I've had dreams of running professionally, setting records, winning an Olympic gold medal." [24:48]
• Shelby Houlihan: "I love this sport, and I love to run, so I'm gonna keep running." [29:54]
• Shelby Houlihan: "If you don't believe me, I did the time." [38:13]
• Shelby Houlihan: "I don't think you should blindly trust anything. Don't blindly trust me." [27:29]
• Shelby Houlihan: "I think it's also a dangerous road, like, to blindly trust the anti doping organizations." [26:05]

These quotes encapsulate Shelby's determination, ethical stance, emotional struggles, and critical views on the anti-doping process, providing listeners with deep insights into her character and the complexities of her battle.

Transcript

[Narrator]

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[Commentator]

What's your biggest goal?

[Shelby Houlihan]

That's a great question, Reb.

[Commentator]

What was it before all this?

[Shelby Houlihan]

I think it's still the same. Ultimately, I want to just get the most out of myself and see what I'm capable of.

[Narrator]

The clock is ticking down and we turn our attention to two individual track finals now both involving world class women.

[Commentator]

The first, 2019, the World Athletics Championships in Doha. Shelby Houlihan, brown hair, tattoos, reps the US in the women's 1500.

[Shelby Houlihan]

2019 was probably my first time where I lined up at a world stage and was like, I belong here. I'm gonna walk away with a medal.

[Commentator]

Shelby had an Olympics under her belt and she holds a couple of American track records. But now at age 27, she's entering her prime.

[Narrator]

The final of the women's 1500 meters begins. So much intrigue with this one. Faith Kip Yagon.

[Commentator]

And Shelby runs the 1500 in 3 minutes and 54 seconds faster than any American woman in history.

[Narrator]

But look at this acceleration from Sifan.

[Commentator]

Hassan and it just ain't enough. Sifan Hassan, an Ethiopian Dutch runner, finishes with the gold three seconds ahead of her. Mind blowing.

[Narrator]

She tore a world class field to pieces.

[Commentator]

Shelby doesn't even make bronze.

[Narrator]

Fourth place. What are the emotions?

[Commentator]

How are you feeling?

[Shelby Houlihan]

Honestly, very disappointed.

[Commentator]

Afterwards, she's interviewed by reporters, one of whom makes a point of asking about her shoes.

[Shelby Houlihan]

You didn't wear new Nike prototype spikes. Why?

[Commentator]

Just before the race, Shelby's coach had pleaded with her to wear super shoes. A new type of carbon plated track shoe that all the other runners were using and breaking records with.

[Shelby Houlihan]

Honestly, I don't know. I've never really worn them.

[Commentator]

And after the race, her coach tries again.

[Shelby Houlihan]

He was just like, what if that was the difference between you getting 4th place in Doha and you meddling? And I'm like, that's exactly why I don't want to wear them. Because, like, I don't want it to be the shoes that I wore. For me, my, my own personal, like, morals, like that crosses my line. I don't agree with it. I think it's pretty black and white. Like, I don't really think there is a gray area if you're trying to gain an advantage when you don't naturally have one. Like, to me that's like an Intention to cheat.

[Commentator]

Can you tell me about when you got the email, where it happened, what was going on?

[Shelby Houlihan]

Yeah, so January 2021, we were in at Altitude camp in Flagstaff, Arizona.

[Commentator]

Shelby is with a few of her teammates from the Bowerman Track Club, and they're grabbing brunch after finishing up a workout.

[Shelby Houlihan]

I got an email on my phone that was saying, it's this confidential, urgent email. And so I was like, I opened it, obviously, and, like, reading it.

[Commentator]

This email. It's from the Athletics Integrity Unit, the anti doping arm of world athletics. A urine sample that she'd given one morning in December 2020 hadn't been clean.

[Shelby Houlihan]

You're immediately suspended from competition.

[Commentator]

Suspended in the middle of training for the Tour Tokyo Olympics. She'd be unable to run in the Olympic trials just six months away.

[Shelby Houlihan]

What the. What the hell?

[Commentator]

Shelby was tested regularly two or three times a month. The Athletics Integrity Unit would send an official to her home to watch her pee in a cup.

[Shelby Houlihan]

I was one of the most tested athletes in the US Because I was doing very well.

[Commentator]

That's an understatement.

[Narrator]

Second fastest time ever run on American soil.

[Commentator]

She was Quite possibly Team USA's best hope at meddling in middle distance running.

[Shelby Houlihan]

I'm starting to panic. And so I was just, like, opening the technical document of what I tested positive for.19 norderosterone. Like, what's that?

[Commentator]

19 norderosterone is a metabolite of a steroid called nandrolone.

[Shelby Houlihan]

It helps you build muscle. I think it can help recovery.

[Commentator]

This is me on nandrolone with two 30 ton boulders resting upon my scapula. Nandrolone is more common in bodybuilding and weightlifting, but plenty of runners have been caught using it.

[Shelby Houlihan]

We get home, I end up going to my room, and I call my coach Jerry, and I was like, it took me probably five minutes to get it out, like something happened.

[Commentator]

Shelby's coach connects her to sports lawyer Paul Green. And that afternoon, Shelby and her new lawyer hop on a zoom call. They have to provide an explanation for how Nandrolone ended up in her system. And they only have seven days.

[Shelby Houlihan]

And he's like, go to your local drug store and go get a pregnancy test. Nandrolone levels can be high in pregnant women or something like that.

[Commentator]

Nandrolone occurs naturally in the human body in very small amounts.

[Shelby Houlihan]

I go to the local Walgreens, get a pregnancy test, take the pregnancy test. I'm like, okay, I'm not pregnant. That's not what it is.

[Commentator]

Shelby sends off a bunch of her daily vitamins for testing, she cuts off some strands of hair, sends those to a lab. Then she and her new lawyer start going through what she ate the day before the test to see if there was anything that could have contaminated her urine.

[Shelby Houlihan]

I was able to recreate a food log using, like, text messages and iPhone locations.

[Commentator]

And right away they noticed something I.

[Shelby Houlihan]

Ate at this food truck the night before the test. I ended up ordering a carne asada burrito, but maybe that's not what it was.

[Commentator]

Did it not taste like carne asada?

[Shelby Houlihan]

I don't know. Like, I was putting salsa on every bite. So, like, I guess I wasn't also, like, looking for it to be anything else, you know, like, I was just eating a burrito.

[Commentator]

One of Shelby's teammates also got a burrito from this truck, but neither of them could finish.

[Shelby Houlihan]

It was super, super greasy. Like, there's just grease pooling in the bottom of this. And that's why we were like, maybe it was chorizo or something like that, or pig offal or something.

[Commentator]

Pig offal, an all purpose blend of pig organs often used in chorizo. And it could have been the source of the nandrolone.

[Shelby Houlihan]

Well, it can be found naturally in pigs or, like, uncastrated boars. Another meal made simple with pork.

[Narrator]

Slice it.

[Shelby Houlihan]

And so we were like, okay, that's something. So let's put a pin in that and, like, keep looking and see if there's anything else. Pork, the other white meat.

[Commentator]

But there is nothing else. The vitamins come back clean. She's not using any eye drops or skin creams known to contain nandrolone. Maybe. Her lawyer says the burrito contained pig offal and that spiked her nandrolone levels.

[Shelby Houlihan]

So we hired a private investigator to, like, try to figure out where this food truck sources their meat. And it ended up. We were able to, like, backtrack it to, like, a huge processing plant.

[Commentator]

Next, the PI Went to the food truck itself.

[Shelby Houlihan]

He ordered all of the different meats, took them all out of the tortilla, wrapped them up individually, put them in a cooler, and then shipped them to to a lab.

[Commentator]

Those samples come back negative, but Shelby and her lawyer decide to submit the burrito theory anyway as their official explanation for how nandrolone ended up in her urine.

[Shelby Houlihan]

This was the only lead that we had, and this is kind of like what we tried to prove.

[Commentator]

And as crazy as it sounds, the burrito theory might be their best shot. Cases where athletes urine samples are contaminated by outside sources are really common. And a lot of the time meat is the culprit.

[Shelby Houlihan]

I'm trying to trust this process. I'm trying to trust, like, I didn't do anything. They're gonna see that. They'll obviously, like, they're not gonna ban an innocent athlete. But I'm also like, what if they do that can't happen. Like, there's just. That can't be what my career is.

[Commentator]

Either the Athletics Integrity Unit accepts the burrito theory, or Shelby loses everything. Her reputation, her friends. She's been with her team for almost six years. And you were living with your teammates?

[Shelby Houlihan]

I was living with, like, a few of them, yeah. I'd ended up not telling most of my team. I was trying to kind of keep it under wraps because I didn't want to the whole world to find out. I ended up telling the people that I was living with what was going on because I was obviously in emotional wreck. I was like crying all the time. During that time. I got so freaking fit. Like, I was throwing myself into running, like, to an unhealthy extent. Like, my foot, my planter was about to tear in half. Like, I had basically a stress reaction in my foot. Like, I was just. I. It was my only way to cope with what was happening. So I was just like, I can't stop because then it'll all be too much.

[Commentator]

Months pass. February, March. With no word from the Athletics Integrity Unit on whether or not they'll accept the burrito theory. And Shelby's running out of time. So in April, with the Olympic trials less than two months away, she and her lawyer decide to do something drastic. They appeal directly to a higher authority, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, to force a high stakes showdown with world athletics.

[Shelby Houlihan]

We just, like, felt confident that we could win. We needed to just get this over with, get through this process and be able to win and so I can race at the trials. Like, that was really where our minds were at.

[Narrator]

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[Shelby Houlihan]

Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank.

[Jerry Schumacher]

Banking services provided by the Bancor Bankna or Stride Bank NA members FDIC Optional.

[Shelby Houlihan]

Services and products may have fees or char such as outbound instant transfers, out of network transactions and credit products.

[Jerry Schumacher]

Learn [e-mail] feesinfo.

[Narrator]

Welcome back to Snap Judgment. The Battle Episode. Now the Olympics are on the line for runners Shelby Houlihan, and everything's riding on the contents of a burrito. Snap judgment.

[Commentator]

June 4, 2021. Shelby hops on a Zoom call at 6am to face the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

[Shelby Houlihan]

Oh, just like I wanted to throw up. Like I was so nervous. Such an important day of my life. And it's just like it's in the hands of someone else.

[Commentator]

3 Someone else's the three arbitrators of the court. They will hear the evidence and decide whether or not her ban is upheld. Also on the call, Shelby's legal team, lawyers from World Athletics, and a handful of scientists from Europe, Canada and the U.S. called by both sides as expert witnesses.

[Shelby Houlihan]

I was shaking like I was terrified.

[Commentator]

Shelby unmutes herself and explains again the burrito theory, how she ordered carne asada, how it was so greasy she couldn't finish, how it could have been pork. She tells the court that she's a clean athlete, that she even thinks cheaters should face jail time.

[Shelby Houlihan]

I don't know what you need to hear. Like I'm just trying to like show you who I am and like, like that I wouldn't do something like this and I hope that you believe me.

[Commentator]

Her lawyer submits statements from her coaches and teammates, all vouching for her character he submits the results of a lie.

[Shelby Houlihan]

Detector test passed with a 99.98% and.

[Commentator]

The results of her hair test.

[Shelby Houlihan]

Hair sample is 100% clean.

[Commentator]

If Shelby had been injecting nandrolone, the most effective way of using it, and if she'd been doing that repeatedly over time, that test would have shown a buildup of the drug in her hair.

[Shelby Houlihan]

From that, we were able to get them to concede that, okay, there's no way that this could have been an injection.

[Commentator]

The positive test was just a one time result, one dirty test among dozens of clean ones she'd given over the years. And the level of nandrolone in Shelby's urine was small enough. Her lawyer argues, with the help of scientists he's called his expert witnesses, that it could have been caused by pork. The lawyers from World Athletics, though, they have a different take. Their expert witness, Dr. Christiane Iotte, ran the lab in Canada that had tested Shelby's urine in the first place, and.

[Shelby Houlihan]

They chose her as an expert, like a lead scientist in the case, which in my mind is a huge conflict of interest, like she's not going to go and speak against her results. She's also been known or been proven to have provided false testimony in another.

[Commentator]

Athlete'S case in 2019. In a similar case, Dr. Ayotte's testimony was found to be inaccurate, and that athlete's ban was overturned in part because of it.

[Shelby Houlihan]

I don't think that she should have been handling that case. I don't think she should. I wish they would have had more experts.

[Commentator]

Dr. Ayotte tells the Court of Arbitration for Sport that the level of nandrolone in Shelby's urine could not have been caused by pork. Instead, it was more in line with what you'd see if she'd been taking small amounts of nandrolone orally. Microdosing, basically an increasingly popular way to cheat after Iote. The only other expert called by World athletics is John McGlone, a professor of animal science from Texas Tech. And he takes on the question of what was in the burrito. If what was inside the burrito was in fact pork, and that pork had enough naturally occurring nandrolone to raise Shelby's levels, then the meat would have had to come from an uncastrated boar. Uncastrated boars are rare in the US Food supply because their testicles make their meat taste bad. It's called boar taint. Yuck. And this animal scientist, McGlone, places the likelihood of Shelby eating uncastrated boar meat at far less than 1 in 10,000. After about eight hours, the hearing ended and Shelby went on a run.

[Shelby Houlihan]

And I remember, like, getting a few miles into it and just stopping and crying. I was just, like, sobbing because it was just like, really overwhelming.

[Commentator]

The court of arbitration in sport began to deliberate. If they accept the burrito theory, they could just clear her totally. That happens. And actually, right around the same time, 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a performance enhancing drug. And no action was taken against them. None. But even if they accept the burrito theory, they could still find fault and ban her for two years. She'd missed the Olympics.

[Shelby Houlihan]

I had just done a workout, and I was cooling down by myself, just, like, had headphones in, was listening to music, feeling like, okay, I feel really fit and ready. Sat down on the turf and was kind of packing up my stuff. And then Jerry came over to me.

[Commentator]

Her coach, Jerry Schumacher. It's been a week since the hearing.

[Shelby Houlihan]

And he kneeled down and he looked at me and he goes, shelb, they banned you for four years.

[Commentator]

Four years. One of the harshest punishments for a first time offender. In their decision, the court made clear they were not buying the burrito theory. They didn't think it explained how nandrolone ended up in her urine. Shelby couldn't prove that it was unintentional, and therefore they believed it was intentional that Shelby was doping.

[Shelby Houlihan]

And I, like, just sat there looking at him, waiting for him to say, like, just kidding. And then when he didn't, I was like, are you. Are you serious? I don't know what to do. Like, what am I supposed to do?

[Commentator]

You had an opportunity that your lawyer presented to you. Tell me what that was.

[Shelby Houlihan]

Yeah. So if I admitted guilt, if I admitted that I cheated, I would get a three year ban instead of a four year ban.

[Commentator]

And if Shelby's ban was three years instead of four, she'd still be able to run in the Paris Olympics in 2024, when she'd be 30, still in the window of her athletic prime.

[Shelby Houlihan]

That was just never on the table for me. Honestly, I shot that down immediately. I was like, I'm not going to admit to something that I know I didn't do. Since I started running when I was five years old, I've had dreams of running professionally, setting records, winning an Olympic gold medal.

[Commentator]

Three days later, Shelby held a press conference.

[Shelby Houlihan]

I feel completely devastated, lost, broken, angry, confused and betrayed by the very sport that I've loved and poured myself into just to see how good I was.

[Commentator]

We've heard this story before, right?

[Narrator]

I have Never used steroids.

[Commentator]

Athletes get caught.

[Jerry Schumacher]

There exists no one who can truthfully.

[Shelby Houlihan]

Testify that I have ever used performance enhancing drugs.

[Commentator]

They deny it tearfully. Sometimes.

[Narrator]

I have never in my life nor.

[Commentator]

Would I ever do anything using the same excuses as Shelby.

[Sports Analyst]

He's blaming it on the steak.

[Shelby Houlihan]

The champion Spanish cycle.

[Commentator]

People are capable of astonishing lies.

[Shelby Houlihan]

Yeah.

[Narrator]

From the beginning, people didn't want Lance Armstrong for a number of reasons.

[Commentator]

Why would anybody believe an athlete with a positive test when they say they're not doping?

[Shelby Houlihan]

Yeah, and that's totally fair, too. Like, and that's frustrating on my end personally, because I'm like, screw those people for not, like, taking any accountability, because, like, not only all the repercussions for, like, how you cheated and how that's affected people, but it's also now affecting people. Athletes that are going through this process that are telling the truth. And now I have no credibility because you lied. You know, so it's like, that's hard. That's really frustrating. I think it's also a dangerous road, like, to blindly trust the anti doping organizations.

[Commentator]

Well, you know, you could find somebody who'd say the exact opposite. If we continue to blindly trust athletes and blindly mistrust authority, these authorities, how would it ever improve?

[Shelby Houlihan]

I don't think you should blindly trust anything. Don't blindly trust me.

[Narrator]

After a confusing back and forth, we have it confirmed now. Shelby Houlihan will not be allowed to race at the US Olympic track and field trials.

[Commentator]

After Shelby's ban was announced, 31 athletes signed an open letter demanding that her name be removed from the roster for the Olympic trials. She wasn't allowed to train with her team anymore, but her coach, Jerry, kept working with her on the side, and so one of her teammates called him out on Instagram and quit.

[Narrator]

Let's start tonight with an update on a story. I know you've just been on the edge of your seats waiting for the latest on what we're calling burrito gate.

[Commentator]

We've got an update for you now on Burrito Gate. It didn't take long for Shelby's story to become clickbait. It begs the question, what would a vegan blame for a failed test?

[Shelby Houlihan]

I could just see it now. People gonna get jacked eating tacos. I was scared to leave my house because it felt like everyone knew she's likely a drug user, a drug cheat.

[Narrator]

I personally believe that she did it. She knows she did it. She knows she got busted. She still won't come.

[Shelby Houlihan]

So I got a lot of, like, messages. I had one person Write me a handwritten letter to tell me how horrible of a person I was. If this was an athlete from Russia or from Kenya, I'd be like, yeah, right. Came from a burrito.

[Commentator]

I can only conclude that she's guilty, and that's a terrible realization as a fan, because she is.

[Shelby Houlihan]

There'd be a lot of positive comments, too. Like, I don't want to, like, dismiss that.

[Commentator]

I am a Shelby Houlihan fan. Love that girl.

[Narrator]

I do not think she would be doing stuff illegally.

[Commentator]

Like, this one running website even sold T shirts to support Shelby. The shirts had a picture of her burrito on the front and the words burrito track club.

[Shelby Houlihan]

That's funny. I never knew that they sold T shirts. I didn't know that people bought them. I didn't know that they were going to give me part of the proceeds. I just got a check, and I was like, thank you.

[Commentator]

Shelby says she spent $250,000 on her defense, and she estimates that between salary and winnings, the ban has cost her something like $1.8 million. She left Oregon and moved back in with her parents in Iowa, where she took up odd jobs, doordash, instacart, cat sitting.

[Shelby Houlihan]

I really, like. I genuinely just, like, didn't know how to move forward. It just felt like a pit of darkness.

[Commentator]

Did you take a break from running, or.

[Shelby Houlihan]

I took three and then decided to run again. It's just like, I just, like running. I don't know. And it's kind of like my outlet. So I took three weeks off, decided, you know what? Like, screw them. They can't take running away from me. They can take away my career, but they can't take away that. I love this sport, and I love to run, so I'm gonna keep running.

[Commentator]

Shelby continued training with the help of her sister, who's a collegiate track coach. She was banned from officially sanctioned competition. But in Iowa, she ran a few local races just for fun. And then in 2023, two years into her ban, she got an opportunity.

[Narrator]

Runners set show.

[Commentator]

An invitation to the World Beer Mile, a race held in Chicago, where for every lap, you have to chug a beer.

[Shelby Houlihan]

Chug a beer, run a lap. Chug a beer, run a lap. So you're chugging four beers, running four laps, and you're trying to see how fast you can do that in.

[Narrator]

Today, we again combine ale, our constant companion in spirit, with our drive to bend the rules of the physical world.

[Commentator]

It's a popular event, and serious professional athletes show up to compete. National news outlets cover it I decided.

[Shelby Houlihan]

To do it because it sounded fun. I just really wanted running to be fun. I thought it would be a good step for me personally, like, just kind of dip my toe in, I guess, back into the running community. And it is just a step to start overcoming some of that anxiety.

[Commentator]

We are picking up Shelby from o'.

[Shelby Houlihan]

Hare.

[Commentator]

That year, the organizers made a film about the Beer Mile in which they interviewed Shelby.

[Shelby Houlihan]

Evidently, some of the women in the women's championship race weren't comfortable with me racing against them. And, yeah, I was definitely hurt a week before I got a call, and they were like. So we talked to the women that are in the race, and there are some, like, some don't care that you're in. They're, like, excited, and there's others that, like, don't want you in the race.

[Commentator]

The organizers offered Shelby the chance to run in the men's B heat, what they called the Elites and Legends race. Legends meant old guys. Basically, it'd be Shelby and a bunch of old guys.

[Shelby Houlihan]

Yeah, to, like, kind of be delivered that news that close to it was just, like, really frustrating. You invited me like this. You know, like, why wasn't this, like, solved or handled beforehand? Not, like, a week before? And I don't want to, like, make anyone else uncomfortable, but I still want to, like, stand up for myself here.

[Commentator]

Can you tell me about maybe your feelings about Shelby Houlihan and her competing?

[Shelby Houlihan]

Yeah, it's a little conflicting.

[Commentator]

I mean, it's tough because Beer Mile world record holder Corey Belmore just before race day.

[Shelby Houlihan]

I don't want to say too much, but, yeah, again, a big supporter of.

[Commentator]

Clean, clean sport, and, yeah, not a big fan of Dover. So that's all I have to say.

[Shelby Houlihan]

It was hard, but I also was kind of reminding myself, like, when I can race again and the band is up, like, I might be in those positions where there's going to be people that don't want me in the race, and I just need to, like, be okay with that and, like, still know that I deserve to be there.

[Commentator]

Shelby wouldn't be able to qualify for a medal, but any record she got would be hers.

[Shelby Houlihan]

I was like, I think I could break the women's record. Like, I think I could do that.

[Commentator]

The women's record for the Beer mile stood at 6 minutes and 16 seconds.

[Narrator]

Friends and family, please welcome to the Star Line these glorious competitors of today's Legends and Elite section.

[Commentator]

Shelby toed the line that day, standing shoulder to shoulder with men decades older than her, guys who were going after the Seniors record in the beer mile. There's so many question marks on the starting line for me that I don't even know where to begin. I don't know where to begin.

[Shelby Houlihan]

Before the race, someone was yelling at me, like, how's that burrito? Or, like, I don't know. It's something about a burrito qualify for, like, going into that before that happened, like, I was afraid, like, would I be able to still, like, perform and, like, be myself? And when he shouted it, I just was like, I don't care at all. Like, I zoned it out. I was like, you sound like an idiot right now. Like, whatever.

[Commentator]

All right. We didn't have the put away there.

[Narrator]

But there we are.

[Commentator]

Out on this. You're gonna see some of the best chuggers in the world here. The race begins with all the runners slow walking as they chugged their first bottle. Shelby had been practicing her chugging for weeks.

[Shelby Houlihan]

I think one of the best tips that I got was, like, if you can't drink your beer in one go and you have to, like, stop and take a breath, like, don't bring it back down and then bring it back up. Like, just keep holding it up and breathe. Because if you bring it down and bring it back up, it's gonna, like, fizz more or get more bubbly.

[Commentator]

She calmly, smoothly, in one motion, throws back her first beer and downs it. She then hands her empty Budweiser bottle to an official who confirms its emptiness. All this takes about 15 seconds, but when she starts running, she's near the rear of the pack.

[Shelby Houlihan]

You spend the first hundred meters kind of burping it out, and then, like, the next 200. Run really fast, and then, like, the last 50 slow down so you can, like, get your heart rate back down.

[Commentator]

Puking, which happens a lot in this race, results in a penalty lap, so Shelby needs to be careful.

[Shelby Houlihan]

It was definitely, like, trying to gauge how hard I should push and, like, where that line was. And then the last 400 just tried to rip it.

[Commentator]

John Markle still on the track.

[Narrator]

The old Godfather right there.

[Commentator]

Not in form that he's been in the past. He has knee surgery.

[Narrator]

And get Jim Finlanson coming in. I think that's going to be the.

[Commentator]

The now standing seniors record.

[Narrator]

Oh, wow. And Shelby Houlihan are just completely screaming down that stretch right there.

[Commentator]

Let's see what time she pulls in.

[Narrator]

Today. For the first time in world history, six minutes has been broken by a female contestant. Not only is that a world record.

[Commentator]

Shelby runs the beer mile in 5 minutes and 43 seconds. The organizers hand her a sign that says world record. As they take her photo, she's beaming.

[Shelby Houlihan]

I've been doing this by myself like the last three weeks, just like trying to practice. This is so much more fun. The crowd was amazing. The energy and the atmosphere of the place was awesome. I would 100% do this again. This was such a fun time. Yeah.

[Narrator]

Here's Shelby Houlihan, the American record holder in the 1500 who last month finished serving a four year ban for testing positive.

[Commentator]

Shelby's ban ended in early 2025 and she's returned to competitive racing and at.

[Narrator]

The line it's gonna be Houlihan for silver.

[Commentator]

In March, she won silver in the 3,000 meters at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in China. With no team, no coach and no sponsors, she wears the super shoes now just like everyone else. And she's passed every drug test.

[Shelby Houlihan]

I don't take any vitamins anymore or anything. Like I don't really trust anything even. I'm like eating meat for dinner sometimes and just like I'll cut a chunk out and freeze it in case I get tested. Shelby, we can call it surprise, but I think you were ready for this race. I was definitely ready for it. I had a lot of time to prepare.

[Commentator]

Well, you definitely served your time and you're back, so I'm really rooting for you and wishing you the best.

[Shelby Houlihan]

Yeah, no, I appreciate it. That's like the other thing where I'm like, unfortunately I did serve four years, so it's like if you don't believe me, I did the time. At least, you know.

[Narrator]

Thank you, Shelby for sharing your story with the Snap. My original score was by Clay Xavier, was produced by John Facil. Now after the break. But if one day you discover you're the spitting image of the most famous person in the country who everyone hates. Stay tuned. Welcome back to Snap Judgment. My name is from Washington. Okay, so you have a look, you see yourself in the mirror and you think, that's me. That's what I look like. Friends and family, they think the same thing. That's her. Alright, well what if you look the same as you always have but the world gives you a totally different response?

[Jerry Schumacher]

I think I saw it on television. That was back when we all watched the news at like 6. I think they actually broke into whatever else was going on to, you know, say this just in.

[Narrator]

In Detroit today, there's been a violent attack on an American athlete, Nancy Kerrigan, the American figure skater who was widely considered a favorite to win a medal at the Winter Olympics, was attacked at a practice session.

[Jerry Schumacher]

Two men wielding some sort of unidentified stick type object. You know, something I don't know.

[Sports Analyst]

The story was these guys who knew figure skating rival Tonya Harding had plotted the whole thing. They followed Nancy Kerrigan to Michigan and then clubbed her right at the knee with a metal baton. The idea was to knock her out of the running for the Olympics.

[Jerry Schumacher]

You know, they were showing that famous awful clip of Nancy injured on the floor around, you know, near the rink, and people rushing to her aid and her crying in pain.

[Shelby Houlihan]

It's awful cry. Why?

[Jerry Schumacher]

In 1994, I was living in Boston. Nancy had grown up in. She's from Stoneham. But we all had sort of watched her. Watched her rise.

[Sports Analyst]

Nancy was adored, the local kid who was gonna win the gold. But Tanya.

[Jerry Schumacher]

Tanya's reputation before this happened was that she was a tough, athletic, amazing, amazing skater who succeeded against all odds. She saved bottle caps to pay for her ice time. She sewed her own costume. She was like. She was like the good kind of scrappy. It was such a huge scandal. You know, who did it, why, who's to blame? So after this, Nancy was the golden girl, and Tanya was the white trash. After that, news broke. The next time that I left the house, I was walking down the street. I sensed a car slow down next to me. Whoever it was rolled down the window and said, hey, Tanya, go home to me.

[Sports Analyst]

So Lynn is holding out on one piece of information here.

[Jerry Schumacher]

I was taking private figure skating lessons from a coach at the MIT rink. So I'd often be around Cambridge carrying my skates. All of a sudden, it was constant. People would stop me on the street.

[Shelby Houlihan]

Hey, you know what you look like?

[Jerry Schumacher]

And what they were thinking was that I looked exactly like Tonya Harding. And like, the thing is, I really did. I walked into my house my one day, and there was a message saying, lynn, this is so and so. Over at the Boston Globe, I heard you look a lot like Tonya Harding, and I'm wondering what that's like for you. Can you please give me a call?

[Sports Analyst]

Lynn's picture made it on the front page of the Metro section. Then the story got picked up and distributed all over the country.

[Jerry Schumacher]

So that's when the phone calls almost broke the tiny cassette tape in my answering machine.

[Sports Analyst]

The media was Tanya crazy. One TV station wanted to drive Lynne to Nancy Kerrigan's house and have her stand on the front lawn. She declined. But Lynne did want to be on stage to act, do comedy, do something she was only 25 and hadn't really figured out how to make that happen. And then she got a call from the king of daytime tv.

[Jerry Schumacher]

When Geraldo called to ask me to be on the show, I called my mom and I was like, geraldo? And she goes, oh, God. Geraldo was a kind of a, you know, middle brow investigative reporter.

[Sports Analyst]

He wanted her to play Tanya for their infamous celebrity look alike contest.

[Jerry Schumacher]

A limo came to drive us to the studio. We all trickled down to the lobby one by one. So first the Nancy look alike, then the guy who looked exactly like Joey Buttafuoco, and then of course, the Amy Fisher lookalike. The folks in the limo definitely asked me, wow, so do you mind looking like Tanya with, you know, clear disdain? I was like, I don't know. How do you, what do you think, Joey? You know, do you mind looking like a dude who had an affair with a 16 year old? What's your story?

[Sports Analyst]

Lynn killed the lookalike contest and then Geraldo asked her to come back to play Tanya in a mock grand jury trial to basically determine her guilt.

[Jerry Schumacher]

So, you know, he opened the show very serious voice and very furrowed brow. You know, ladies and gentlemen, you know, this is a very special Geraldo. We are here to actually consider the evidence with the help of real lawyers. And there is not conjecture here, folks. And there were two lawyers that I remember. One of them was the lady in the turban with a big jewel in the front. And she was very dramatic and it felt like she had walked out of a movie from some other time. Why would they do such a thing?

[Commentator]

She's got every motive in the world.

[Jerry Schumacher]

To destroy her rival. Of course she's got motive. She wants to win the gold. The guy who played my lawyer was Joey Buttafuoco's actual lawyer. It was the weirdest. It was so weird. And I was wearing my ice skates. I was wearing my skates in the courtroom. And I remember so clearly looking around the room thinking to myself, jesus, where do they get these people?

[Sports Analyst]

And then came the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, the showdown everyone was waiting for, Nancy versus Tonya.

[Jerry Schumacher]

And you see Nancy and Tonya skate out onto the ice with, you know, just feet between them as they, as they skate in their circles, warming up, and it is just the coldest, tensest thing you have ever seen. Chinese Olympic showing was pretty much a disaster. She singled her triples.

[Narrator]

Uncomfortable and I.

[Commentator]

Think she's gonna quit.

[Jerry Schumacher]

She puts her skate up on the boards and she's pointing to her boot and she's pointing to her coach and she's kind of pointing back and forth and clearly upset she'd had a malfunction.

[Sports Analyst]

With the laces on her skate.

[Jerry Schumacher]

She is just crying from all the stress and the whole goddamn world is making fun of her. Can you imagine, man, even all the times that I felt like what I was doing was harmless, there's a little voice in my head going, I'm so sorry, Tanya. Tanya, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry.

[Shelby Houlihan]

I'm so sorry.

[Sports Analyst]

Nancy Kerrigan didn't get gold, but she did get silver. And that pretty much cemented her place as America's sweetheart. Tanya lost. She ended eighth. And that was pretty much the end of Tanya.

[Jerry Schumacher]

I remember thinking, this has been fun and I hope Tonya forgives me, but I can't coast on this forever.

[Sports Analyst]

The spotlight might have felt good for a minute, but she decided it was time to really give it a go, to finally move to New York and take a crack at the comedy world. And she told herself she'd do it on her own, without Tonya.

[Jerry Schumacher]

So once I moved to Brooklyn, I dyed my hair like a really beautiful, rich chestnut brown and was making my own way. Until one day when my roommate's friend burst in waving a copy of Backstage magazine. He plops it down to the coffee table and he jams his finger at this thing that he circled and it says something like the Musical Inquirer, a downtown musical in search of new Tonya Harding. And we all look up and I'm like, oh, no. What I lacked in incredible talent, I made up for in looking exactly like Tanya. Being super Tonya was my asset. And, you know, it's like, this is what you do. This is what you do. You audition, you get roles, you do it. And so I auditioned, got the part, trudged shamefully back to the hair salon. I was like, remember that beautiful brown hair dye that you put in? You know, I said, pointing to my beautiful brownhead. They're like, yeah. I'm like, you gotta take it out.

[Narrator]

Big thanks to Lynn Harris for her story. Lynn is an author, a commentator, an award winning journalist, and a mostly retired comedian. She also has a new business, teaching comedy to teenage girls. To learn more and watch her perform and sing as Tonya Harding, check out our website, stampjudgment.org the original score and sound design by the Amazing Leon Morimoto. That story was produced by Liz Mack. It's that time snappers. And if you missed even a moment, know that an entire world of SNAP storytelling awaits. In fact, recently dropped a brand new series diving into the world of incarcerated women firefighters battling the flames in California, hosted by snap's own an assessment. It's called Fire Escape on podcast platforms everywhere right now KQD in San Francisco. SNAP Judgments Orbiting hall of justice no SNAP studios content may be used for training, testing or developing machine learning or AI systems without prior written positions and on Team snap, the union representative, producers, artists, editors and engineers are members of the national association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians, Communications workers of America, AFL CIO Local 51. Snap is brought to you by the team that fights the Authority. Except of course for the uber producer Mr. Mark Ristich, who fights the Authority. The Authority always wins. Another Stancy Lopez, Pat Mercedes Miller, Anna Sussman, Renzo Goria, John Facil, Shayna Shealy, Teo Dicott, Flo Wiley, Bo Walsh, Marissa Dodge, David Exume and Regina Medeaco. And this is not the news. No way is this amusing fact. It could just be some down on his luck Philadelphia drifter who gets a once in a lifetime shot at the heavyweight title and he would still still not be as far away from the news as this is. But this is PR Sam.