Adaejah Hodge has delivered a performance for the ages, rewriting the record books with a stunning 10.63 seconds in the women’s 100 metres semifinal at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
The local sprint star stormed to victory, shattered the NCAA collegiate record of 10.75 seconds previously held by Sha'Carri Richardson, and moved into fifth place on the all-time list of the fastest women in history.
Yet, in a moment that captured both her humility and the magnitude of the achievement, Hodge revealed she had no idea she had made history.
After crossing the finish line, she ran straight toward the tunnel and was stopped by officials.
“They ran me down, ‘Hey, hey, hey, you broke the collegiate record. You have to get your spikes checked.’”
Hodge laughed as she recalled her reaction.
“I was like, ‘Oh. OK.’”
When she was later informed that her run made her the fifth-fastest woman in the history of the event, the young Virgin Islander could hardly believe it.
“Representing the University of Georgia, Hodge’s 10.63 was not only a new collegiate record but also the fastest time recorded in the world this year, placing her among an exclusive group of sprint legends, behind only Florence Griffith-Joyner, Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden.
For the Virgin Islands, it is a defining moment in the Territory’s sporting history and a powerful reminder that a small nation can produce athletes capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with the greatest sprinters the world has ever seen.
With the NCAA final still to come, the world will once again turn its attention to Hodge, the young woman from the Virgin Islands who is no longer simply a rising star, but officially one of the fastest women to ever live
The local sprint star stormed to victory, shattered the NCAA collegiate record of 10.75 seconds previously held by Sha'Carri Richardson, and moved into fifth place on the all-time list of the fastest women in history.
Yet, in a moment that captured both her humility and the magnitude of the achievement, Hodge revealed she had no idea she had made history.
After crossing the finish line, she ran straight toward the tunnel and was stopped by officials.
“They ran me down, ‘Hey, hey, hey, you broke the collegiate record. You have to get your spikes checked.’”
Hodge laughed as she recalled her reaction.
“I was like, ‘Oh. OK.’”
When she was later informed that her run made her the fifth-fastest woman in the history of the event, the young Virgin Islander could hardly believe it.
“Representing the University of Georgia, Hodge’s 10.63 was not only a new collegiate record but also the fastest time recorded in the world this year, placing her among an exclusive group of sprint legends, behind only Florence Griffith-Joyner, Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden.
For the Virgin Islands, it is a defining moment in the Territory’s sporting history and a powerful reminder that a small nation can produce athletes capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with the greatest sprinters the world has ever seen.
With the NCAA final still to come, the world will once again turn its attention to Hodge, the young woman from the Virgin Islands who is no longer simply a rising star, but officially one of the fastest women to ever live
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