Sha’Carri Richardson set the NCAA 100m record seven years ago, and Abby Steiner’s NCAA 200m record stood for four years. Fans expected these milestones, especially Richardson’s record, to stand the test of time until NCAA outdoor debutant Adaejah Hodge stepped to the line. The University of Georgia redshirt freshman shattered and walked away with an NCAA title and two runners-up nods, giving her the lead for the Bowerman award.

Hodge won the 200m title with a blistering 21.68, improving Steiner’s collegiate record by 0.12,  and was a favourite to win the 100m as well. She had broken Sha’Carri Richardson’s 100m collegiate record in the prelim when she clocked 10.63. The Olympian’s meet record of 10.75 was set in 2019. However, a shock defeat meant that she finished second to Jamaica’s Shenese Walker. Instead, Hodge registered 10.93 to finish behind Walker (10.88). The 20-year-old Georgia star also earned a runners-up medal in the indoor 60m and a gold in the indoor 200m.

All these perfromances have made the freshman the favorite to win the Bowerman Award. The 20-year-old was named as one of the three women’s finalists for the 2026 Bowerman alongside fellow Georgia star Dejanea Oakley. Axelina Johansson completes the trio after the shot-putter’s incredible, record-breaking season.

Both Oakley and Johansson enjoyed equally superb seasons. The latter, a star shot-putter for the Huskers, broke the NCAA indoor shot put record. Not just that, the Swede also won the indoor and outdoor NCAA shot put title alongside a World Indoors bronze. Plus, she finished the outdoor season with not just the title but also the collegiate meet record.

It also meant that Johansson took Nebraska’s school record for both the indoor and outdoor, showing off her dominance in her discipline. Oakley produced something similar, soaring to the 400m NCAA indoor and outdoor titles in 2026. The Georgia athlete broke yet another collegiate record in the 400m, this time breaking Nickisha Pryce’s 2024 time.

She also clocked 35.94 in the 300m to become only the fourth collegiate athlete to break sub-35 in the discipline. Oakley also anchored Georgia’s 4x400m outdoor relay. There, they set the second-best time in college athletics history, finishing with 3:20.96. Even then, that time was only good enough for a runner-up finish.

However, Hodge’s path to the trophy was far from smooth. The 20-year-old served a 17-month suspension between August 2024 and January 2026. That was after she tested positive for metabolites of GW501516. The AIU did announce that Hodge had ingested the substance unknowingly and had provided “substantial assistance” to an ongoing case. Her next test now comes against a world-class field as she prepares to take on sprinting veterans.

Adaejah Hodge will race Olympians at the 2026 Prefontaine Classic

Olympic champion Julien Alfred won’t be at the 2026 Prefontaine Classic. Yet, the Diamond League meet still has the likes of Dina Asher-Smith, Amy Hunt, Shericka Jackson, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and several others set to race the 100m. That means Hodge will get the chance to line up alongside and potentially beat sme of the most decorated sprinters in women’s track-and-field history.

After breaking Sha’Carri Richardson’s 100m collegiate record, Adaejah Hodge soared up the charts. She’s currently the world’s fastest woman in 2026, above Richardson (10.77), Shenese Walker (10.80), Shericka Jackson (10.81) and co. All three women are Olympians. With 10.63, Hodge has also become the fifth-fastest woman of all time. 

Only Florence Griffith Joyner (10.49), Elaine Thompson-Herah (10.54), Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (10.60) and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden (10.61) sit ahead of her. It does mean that even though she’s barely 20 years old, Hodge has already shown off her prowess against some of the world’s best on paper. Now she’ll get to do it in person at Hayward Field, Oregon, from July 3-4.

The question is: will the pressure of racing Olympic medalists get to Adaejah Hodge?