Shelby Houlihan

Birthday: 02/08/93 Mile PR: 4:23.0 (road) - 2016
Metric Mile (1500m) PR: 3:54.99 - 2019 (U.S. record)
High School: East HS
Hometown: Sioux City, IA
College: Arizona State University '15
Current Residence: Portland, OR

Team: Bowerman Track Club

Star & Rio Olympian Shelby Houlihan finished 4th in the 1500 meters at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar, shattering the U.S. record in 3:54.99; arguably in the greatest women's 1500m race.

Also in 2019, Houlihan, showing her range and beating a deep American women's field, won the 2019 USA 10K Cross Country Championship crown in Tallahassee, FL, and later in February, she defended her USA Indoor 2 Mile title, running 9:31.38 and was runner-up in the USA Indoor Mile on Staten Island. At the USA Outdoor Championships in Des Moines, Shelby, an Iowa native, defended her 1500 title, beating Jenny Simpson, 4:03.18 to 4:03.41, and the next day, she also defended her 5000m title.

At the 2018 USA Outdoor Championships, Houlihan won her first outdoor 1500 meter national title with a strong closing kick, beating veteran and 4-time defending champion Jenny Simpson, 4:05.48 to 4:06.21. The next day, she took the USA 5000m title with a devastating final 100 meters.

Also in 2018, Houlihan defended her two indoor USA titles, again in Albuquerque, winning the 1500m & 3000m races in February 2018 and qualifying for the World Indoor Championships. At the WIC in Birmingham, GBR, she finished 4th in the 1500m and 5th in the 3000m. In May at the Prefontaine Classic, Shelby defeated a top international field, clocking her first sub-4 metric Mile, 3:59.06, and in July, she won the Lausanne 1500m in another PR, 3:57.34, #4 American woman all-time. For her masterful year, Track & Field News selected Shelby as the U.S. Women's Athlete-of-the-Year and ranked her #1 in the world for the 1500m / Mile.

On July 21, 2018 at Heusden, Belgium, Shelby shattered Shannon Rowbury's U.S. 5000m record by 4-plus seconds, clocking 14:34.45!

At the 2017 USA Track & Field Championships, she won her first outdoor national title as a professional in the 5000 meters, clocking 15:13.87, besting fellow U.S. Olympians Shannon Rowbury and Molly Huddle to earn a Team USA berth for the London World Championships.

Houlihan also made her first Olympic team in the 5000 meters, Rio 2016, while continuing her success in the middle-distances as well. As a collegiate runner at Arizona State University, Shelby won the 2014 NCAA Outdoor Championship 1500m title in 4:18.10 and followed with a runner-up finish in the 1500m at the 2015 NCAAs. While competing for the Sun Devils, Shelby was a 12-time All-American and set school records for 800m, 1500m, Mile and 3000m. After graduating from ASU in 2015, Shelby joined the Bowerman Track Club to be coached by Jerry Schumacher.

In her first professional outdoor track season, Shelby set a personal record 1500m time of 4:03.39 at the 2016 Prefontaine Classic, finishing 7th overall and 2nd American in a world class field. At the U.S. Olympic Trials, she went on to qualify for the Rio Olympic Games in the 5000m and placed 11th in the Olympic 5000m later that summer. Following her Rio run, Shelby dropped down in distance to place 6th at the Fifth Avenue Mile, with a personal best Mile time of 4:23.0.

In 2017, Houlihan won the Mile at the BU Valentine Invitational in an indoor personal record, clocking 4 minutes, 24.16 seconds, which ranks in the top 30 all-time indoors (and #6 American woman all-time). She capped-off an impressive indoor season in March, by becoming a double national champion, winning the USA Indoor Mile and 2 Mile titles on back-to-back nights in Albuquerque.