University of Georgia sprinter Adaejah Hodge received a two-year doping ban. The standard four-year was reduced as she cooperated with authorities.
The teenager tested positive for a banned substance back in 2024. The news resurfaced just after she won the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, held on March 13 and 14.
Hodge competed at the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima, Peru, and got flagged by the authorities for using GW501516, a banned metabolic modulator.
The sprinter, who was born in the British Virgin Islands, received an immediate suspension order after being notified by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) of potential violations of Rules 2.1 (presence of a prohibited substance) and 2.2 (use of a prohibited substance) of the 2024 World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules.
Hodge was initially banned from competing from August 28, 2024, through August 27, 2026.
Why the delay
The AIU waited several months before notifying Hodge. They reached her in person in Georgia on November 22, 2024. At that meeting, she was informed of potential violations under both Rule 2.1 (presence of a prohibited substance) and Rule 2.2 (use of a prohibited substance) of the 2024 World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules and was placed under an immediate provisional suspension. Hodge complied and provided a potential reason for the positive test.
Hodge submitted documentation to support her claim and attended a second interview with the AIU on January 17, 2025, which demonstrated an effort to cooperate with the investigation.
After several months of discussion, the parties reached a Case Resolution Agreement, which settlement mechanism under Rule 10.8.2 of the Anti-Doping Rules that allows all parties to avoid a full hearing. Under its terms, Hodge acknowledged committing an anti-doping rule violation.
The parties also agreed, on the balance of probabilities, that she ingested GW501516 unknowingly, a significant finding that shifts the case from deliberate cheating to contamination or negligence. The violations were formally declared unintentional. Hodge accepted a two-year period of ineligibility, which is the standard sanction for non-intentional violations involving non-specified substances.
The 19-year-old set the BVI national records in the 200m three days ago, clocking 22.22 indoors, which is also the overall 200m national record.
