University of Georgia Athletics
Hodge On Top Of The World
April 23, 2026 | Track & Field, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Adaejah Hodge has been running since she could stand.
"My mom said my first step was actually a run, on Christmas Eve," said Hodge, a Georgia redshirt freshman sprinter who has been lighting up track and field since the start of the indoor season. And she's only getting faster.
At the NCAA Indoor Championships at Arkansas in March, Hodge won the 200 meters in a school-record time of 22.22 — the fourth-fastest in NCAA history — and placed second in the 60. She scored 18 points at the meet to help the Bulldogs win the national championship, and her individual total would have put her in a tie with Ole Miss for 14th place in the team standings.
"Wow, I didn't know that," she said upon hearing where her total stacked up in the team competition. "That's pretty amazing."
And so is Hodge. According to Georgia Director of Track and Field Caryl Smith Gilbert, Hodge was running so fast in practice early in the indoor season that Smith Gilbert wondered if her efforts were timed correctly.
"I was so surprised by her every day in practice that I'm not surprised by what she did in the meet," said Smith Gilbert after Hodge's stellar performance at the NCAA Indoors. "She'd run so fast that I asked (assistant coach Kyle Stevenson), 'Are you guys sure you marked that right? That's so fast, I've never seen that before.' We do a lot of remeasuring when it comes to her in practice."
Hodge hasn't let up one bit in the outdoor season. In fact, the 20-year-old has been the best sprinter in the world through the early months of outdoor racing.
At the Spec Towns Invitational at the UGA Track and Field Complex earlier this month, she broke the school record in the 200 with a time of 22.10, topping the legendary Debbie Ferguson's mark of 22.19 set in 1999. Last weekend, at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in Gainesville, Fla., Hodge set a new school record in the 100, running 10.77.
Hodge's times in the outdoor 100 and 200 are not just the fastest by a collegiate runner this year, her 100 time is the fastest in the world — and her 200 time is the second-fastest, just .01 seconds slower than the world-leading mark of 22.09 set by American professional Cambrea Sturgis. The world record in the 100 is 10.49, set by Florence Griffith Joyner in 1988, the same year she set the 200 record of 21.34.
Born in the British Virgin Islands, Hodge grew up in Douglasville, Ga. During the 2024 Olympics, Hodge, at just 18, not only ran the 200 in Paris, she also was one of the flag bearers during the opening ceremonies. Her 100 time last week was a national record for the British Virgin Islands, and her 200 time at the Spec Towns Invitational lowered her own national record.
Hodge said she's always been fast — and always been up for a race.
"In elementary school, when I moved to the States, the boys would want to race me all the time, and I would beat them," she said with a smile. "So from then, I knew I was fast."
She said her mother, uncle and grandfather all ran track, so she was naturally drawn to it. One of the things she likes about it is that you learn from every experience.
"You can mess up, learn from your mistakes, and then come back and do even better," she said.
And she is getting better and better. Before coming to Georgia, Hodge had a personal best in the 100 of 11.11, and now she's dropped almost half a second off that. Her best time in the 200 before college was 22.60, and now it is exactly half a second faster.
"I have improved physically, mentally, and I've also improved as a person, just in general," she said. "Georgia has allowed me to grow and become the adult that I am today, so I'm very grateful for this place."Â
On Tuesday, Hodge was named the SEC Women's Runner of the Week for the third week in a row. It has been that kind of spring for the powerful, 5-foot-3 sprinter, who still has a lot more she wants to accomplish this year and throughout her Georgia career and beyond — including the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
"I keep thinking we still have four years, and it's like, no, it's in two years," she said. "We've got to start preparing for that, but not too much, because I still have this season, '27, and still the collegiate '28 season. I'm not really worried about L.A. right now."
According to Hodge, the 200 is her favorite event, but she's also obviously outstanding at the 100, and her 51.24-second 400 that she ran at the Hurricane Collegiate Invitational in Coral Gables, Fla., at the end of March was the seventh-fastest 400 in program history.
"I've watched so many people go out there and run the 200; I've watched track for my entire life — NCAA, Olympics, World Championships — because I love track and field so much," she said. "Being able to be the person on TV that somebody is watching, that was like me when I was younger, it means the world just knowing that younger kids are watching me and being inspired the way I was when I was their age."
Hodge and the top-ranked Georgia women's and men's teams will be back at the UGA Track and Field Complex next weekend for the Torrin Lawrence Memorial meet.
Staff Writer
Adaejah Hodge has been running since she could stand.
"My mom said my first step was actually a run, on Christmas Eve," said Hodge, a Georgia redshirt freshman sprinter who has been lighting up track and field since the start of the indoor season. And she's only getting faster.
At the NCAA Indoor Championships at Arkansas in March, Hodge won the 200 meters in a school-record time of 22.22 — the fourth-fastest in NCAA history — and placed second in the 60. She scored 18 points at the meet to help the Bulldogs win the national championship, and her individual total would have put her in a tie with Ole Miss for 14th place in the team standings.
"Wow, I didn't know that," she said upon hearing where her total stacked up in the team competition. "That's pretty amazing."
And so is Hodge. According to Georgia Director of Track and Field Caryl Smith Gilbert, Hodge was running so fast in practice early in the indoor season that Smith Gilbert wondered if her efforts were timed correctly.
"I was so surprised by her every day in practice that I'm not surprised by what she did in the meet," said Smith Gilbert after Hodge's stellar performance at the NCAA Indoors. "She'd run so fast that I asked (assistant coach Kyle Stevenson), 'Are you guys sure you marked that right? That's so fast, I've never seen that before.' We do a lot of remeasuring when it comes to her in practice."
Hodge hasn't let up one bit in the outdoor season. In fact, the 20-year-old has been the best sprinter in the world through the early months of outdoor racing.
At the Spec Towns Invitational at the UGA Track and Field Complex earlier this month, she broke the school record in the 200 with a time of 22.10, topping the legendary Debbie Ferguson's mark of 22.19 set in 1999. Last weekend, at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in Gainesville, Fla., Hodge set a new school record in the 100, running 10.77.
Hodge's times in the outdoor 100 and 200 are not just the fastest by a collegiate runner this year, her 100 time is the fastest in the world — and her 200 time is the second-fastest, just .01 seconds slower than the world-leading mark of 22.09 set by American professional Cambrea Sturgis. The world record in the 100 is 10.49, set by Florence Griffith Joyner in 1988, the same year she set the 200 record of 21.34.
Born in the British Virgin Islands, Hodge grew up in Douglasville, Ga. During the 2024 Olympics, Hodge, at just 18, not only ran the 200 in Paris, she also was one of the flag bearers during the opening ceremonies. Her 100 time last week was a national record for the British Virgin Islands, and her 200 time at the Spec Towns Invitational lowered her own national record.
Hodge said she's always been fast — and always been up for a race.
"In elementary school, when I moved to the States, the boys would want to race me all the time, and I would beat them," she said with a smile. "So from then, I knew I was fast."
She said her mother, uncle and grandfather all ran track, so she was naturally drawn to it. One of the things she likes about it is that you learn from every experience.
"You can mess up, learn from your mistakes, and then come back and do even better," she said.
And she is getting better and better. Before coming to Georgia, Hodge had a personal best in the 100 of 11.11, and now she's dropped almost half a second off that. Her best time in the 200 before college was 22.60, and now it is exactly half a second faster.
"I have improved physically, mentally, and I've also improved as a person, just in general," she said. "Georgia has allowed me to grow and become the adult that I am today, so I'm very grateful for this place."Â
On Tuesday, Hodge was named the SEC Women's Runner of the Week for the third week in a row. It has been that kind of spring for the powerful, 5-foot-3 sprinter, who still has a lot more she wants to accomplish this year and throughout her Georgia career and beyond — including the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
"I keep thinking we still have four years, and it's like, no, it's in two years," she said. "We've got to start preparing for that, but not too much, because I still have this season, '27, and still the collegiate '28 season. I'm not really worried about L.A. right now."
According to Hodge, the 200 is her favorite event, but she's also obviously outstanding at the 100, and her 51.24-second 400 that she ran at the Hurricane Collegiate Invitational in Coral Gables, Fla., at the end of March was the seventh-fastest 400 in program history.
"I've watched so many people go out there and run the 200; I've watched track for my entire life — NCAA, Olympics, World Championships — because I love track and field so much," she said. "Being able to be the person on TV that somebody is watching, that was like me when I was younger, it means the world just knowing that younger kids are watching me and being inspired the way I was when I was their age."
Hodge and the top-ranked Georgia women's and men's teams will be back at the UGA Track and Field Complex next weekend for the Torrin Lawrence Memorial meet.
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files.
Players Mentioned
Sprints
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