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Saturday, Aug 22, 2026

Young local sprinter Adaejah Hodge conquers the world!

Young local sprinter Adaejah Hodge conquers the world!

The fastest under-16 aged girl in the world this year is a British Virgin Islander and her name is Adaejah Hodge.

One might think that’s the single most impressive thing about young Adaejah but then you would be wrong.

What’s really special about the youngster is that she currently holds the world number-one rank for her age group in all three major sprinting disciplines in Track & Field — the 100 metres, the 200 metres and, yes, the 400 metres.

Sports Minister Dr Natalio Wheatley was not shy to express his elation about the young athlete’s achievement.

“Adaejah Hodge is number-one in the world! Not in the Caribbean! Not in the United States! The entire world,” he said in a social media post this week.

“The whole of planet Earth,” Dr Wheatley continued. “I am so proud! This BVI is special. [A population of] 30-plus thousand but we conquer 7.5 billion! Number one in a number of categories! I am so proud! This will only get sweeter and sweeter,”

Fifteen-year-old Adaejah’s latest victory came while competing at the Georgia State High School Class 6A (Regionals 3, 4, 5 and 8) Championships at Barron Stadium in the United States.

She ran an impressive 23.64 seconds to claim first place in the 200 metres; establishing a new BVI Under-17 Girls record for that event.

It is this time that also earned her the World #1 Under-16 Girls’ rank over 200 metres and the World #7 rank for Under-18 girls.

Much to her delight, it’s also a new personal best for the youngster.

Long Jump


Adaejah further earned a top finish in the Girls’ Long Jump event as well. She leapt to a flying distance of 5.97 metres (19’7”) to win with a personal best.

According to the BVI Athletics Association (BVIAA, this jump places her at the World #3 rank for girls under 16 years and #13 worldwide for girls under 18.

“Adaejah also holds the current World #1 ranking for U16 girls in the 100m with her 11.70 run and a World #10 ranking for U18 girls 100m. Hodge is also the current World U16 girls #1 ranking in the 400m with her time of 55.11 seconds and current world #13 ranking for U18 girls 400m,” the BVIAA said in a recent social media post.

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