Skechers Signs Shelby Houlihan to Her First Shoe Deal Since Her Doping Ban

Shelby Houlihan has a shoe company behind her again. Skechers said Thursday that it had signed the American distance runner as the first athlete on its AERO range, ending the 20 months she spent competing without a sponsor since her doping ban expired.

The announcement came less than a week after Houlihan raced in Budapest, where she finished 12th of 12 in the 5,000m at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship, running 15:18.65, about 48 seconds behind the winner, Likina Amebaw of Ethiopia. Earlier in the season she won the 10,000m at The TEN in March in 30:50.10, on her first attempt at the distance on the track and listed in the results as unattached, as LetsRun reported at the time. In July she was second in the 5,000m at the U.S. Championships in New York City, running 14:57.88 behind Emily Mackay.

Houlihan tested positive for nandrolone in a sample collected in December 2020 and was suspended for four years from Jan. 14, 2021. She said the result came from a pork burrito bought at a food truck. The Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected that account, putting its probability at close to zero, and the ban ran its full term to Jan. 13, 2025. She has never accepted the finding, and she lost her Nike contract over it.

No brand replaced Nike when she came back. Her agent, Paul Doyle, told LetsRun in January 2025 that several companies had come to him about her. “A good few of the brands have been really interested, really keen to sign her,” Doyle said. Others balked at the reputational risk. She spent two seasons unattached, taking World Indoor silver over 3,000m in Nanjing, winning the U.S. 5,000m title in 2025, placing fourth in the 5,000m at that year’s World Championships in Tokyo, and winning a trail race in Phoenix along the way.

Skechers’ announcement runs through her American record over 1,500m and the 14 national titles she has won in the United States, and says she is already in the AERO shoes with 2027 in view. It makes no reference to the suspension. Michael Greenberg, the company’s president, said Houlihan “brings an unmatched competitive spirit to our roster,” and that her trust in the shoes “brings authenticity to the brand that will resonate with the running community.” Her deal covers advertising work as well. In the release she said: “From the very beginning, it was clear how much the Skechers team cared about what I need as an athlete.”

Her 1,500m mark of 3:54.99, set in the World Championships final in Doha on Oct. 5, 2019, is still the American record. The 5,000m record she also owned, 14:23.92, is not: Alicia Monson ran 14:19.45 in London in July 2023, in the third year of Houlihan’s ban.

Skechers has been in elite distance running before, most visibly when Meb Keflezighi won the 2014 Boston Marathon in the brand’s shoes. The company was taken private by 3G Capital at $63 a share in a deal that closed on Sept. 12, 2025, and said in August that it had become the second largest footwear brand in the United States. AERO, sold in Burst, Spark and Razor versions, is its road running range, and Houlihan is the first athlete signed to it.

The 2027 World Athletics Championships are set for Beijing National Stadium, Sept. 10 to 19. Houlihan will be 34 when they open.