American middle-distance runner Shelby Houlihan has lost her appeal against a four-year drugs ban after the Court of Arbitration for Sport said her defence “presupposes a cascade of factual and scientific improbabilities”.
The US 1500m and 5,000m record holder missed the Tokyo Olympics after testing positive for a banned steroid.
The 28-year-old blamed the result on eating contaminated meat in a burrito.
Houlihan was sanctioned by the Athletics Integrity Unit.
She argued her positive test came after eating pork from an uncastrated boar, but the CAS panel said the argument “simply cannot be accepted”.
Houlihan will miss the 2022 World Championships on home soil in Oregon and the Paris 2024 Olympics, with her ban due to end on 14 January 2025.
