Shelby Houlihan finishes fourth in return to big-time after infamous four-year 'Burrito Ban'

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TOKYO (AP) — American distance runner Shelby Houlihan knows some people will see her fourth-place finish at the world championships in the first big-time race since her “Burrito Ban” and wonder if it's legit.

She doesn't much care about them.

“I surround myself with people who love me and support me, and that's way louder than anything the haters would say," Houlihan said. “It’s nice to stick it to them every once in a while.”

The 32-year-old Houlihan, who missed four years and two Olympics as the result of a much-debated ban for what she said was eating a drug-tainted burrito, finished one spot out of the medals Saturday in the 5,000 meters, one of the most-stacked races on the program.

She ran in the front for most of the first 12 laps of the 12.5-lap race — not the game plan she came in with, but something she said just felt right with nobody moving to set the pace.

She finished in 14 minutes, 57.2 seconds — exactly 2 seconds from winning a medal.

Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet added the 5,000 to her 10,000 crown, holding off 1,500 champion Faith Kipyegon down the stretch.

Houlihan's fourth place matched the same result she got in her last outdoor major before the ban. That was in the 1,500 at worlds in 2019 in Doha, Qatar.

“I think there’s a lot of emotion,” she said. “How that played out, that was everything I had, and I’m very proud of that.”

Houlihan, the 2025 American champion at 5,000 meters and still considered one of the country's best runners, said this is the start of a new chapter for a career that got waylaid by her now-famous doping ban that revolved around a complex contamination case.

It divided both her sport and the anti-doping world; she's well aware the result in her return will raise eyebrows both from those who believe her and doubt her.

But, she said, the time for explaining or defending herself has long passed.

“If I had proof that I didn't (cheat) I wouldn't have served a four-year ban,” she said. “It's unfortunate that I couldn't prove it, but it doesn't change the fact that I didn't intentionally cheat, and that's not something I would do or ever did.”

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