A month and a half ago, she broke Sha’Carri Richardson’s NCAA record by becoming the fifth fastest woman in history at 20. Twenty-four days ago, she finished within a whisker of Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Richardson in Eugene before replicating that against Julien Alfred in Monaco. Adaejah Hodge had proved she belonged amongst the fastest women in the world and was now chasing after glory. Now, it looks like she won’t even get the chance to race for it in Glasgow.

Global Athletics Hub has reported that the 20-year-old will be absent from the 100m semi-finals at the Commonwealth Games. That means the woman with the fastest personal best amongst 24 competitors will be absent from the race, leaving the field wide open. The X account is the only source reporting the news, with no one else saying the same.

Their report, however, has been more or less confirmed by the official startlist on the Glasgow 2026 website, where Adaejah Hodge’s name is absent. The British Virgin Islands’ sprinter was confirmed to race the 100m and 200m at the Commonwealth Games and was amongst the favourites for both. That’s not surprising considering Adaejah Hodge’s proficiency in both events, especially this season.

It showed during the NCAA Championship finals, where she broke Richardson’s meet record in the 100m. The Olympian clocked 10.75 in 2019, and Adaejah Hodge shattered that with her 10.63 run in the opening heat of the 100m. She ended up easing off the pedal in the final and finished third with 10.80, and that wasn’t enough for her.

Hodge then went on to smash the 200m collegiate record with a 21.68 gold medal-winning run. It moved her up to eighth place on the all-time list, level with Jefferson-Wooden and one ahead of icon Allyson Felix. Now, however, with Adaejah Hodge out of the 100m, it leaves the field wide open, and there’ll be several contenders to take it.

Amy Hunt is arguably the new favourite given her pedigree as an Olympic medalist, but her season best of 10.97 isn’t the fastest. That goes to Canadian Sade McCreath (10.86) with fellow Olympian Jonielle Smith (10.89) right behind her.

Yet Amy Hunt’s return to the top of the contenders list is remarkable considering where she was just a year ago. The Brit’s 2026 season has come after overcoming an injury that once threatened not only her Commonwealth Games hopes, but her career altogether.

Amy Hunt reflects on her career-threatening injury

While she recently won a world championships silver medal and beat out icons to the podium, Amy Hunt’s career hasn’t been straightforward. The 24-year-old had struggled to balance life as an academic at Cambridge alongside her track career, battling burnout and more. Then a serious thigh injury in 2022 hit her hard, forcing her out of action for nearly a year. That, more than anything, became a turning point for the now 24-year-old and she used it to surge forward.

Since then, Hunt has thrived and become the fourth British woman to ever clock a sub-11 in the 100m alongside her medal in Tokyo. Now, however, her scar has become a reminder of what she nearly lost and what she hopes to achieve before the end of her career.

“My career flashed before my eyes, and I wasn’t sure whether I was going to even be able to run again,” Hunt admitted to the Telegraph. “I realised I have to kind of enjoy this moment… be incredibly happy and confident because what I get to do is such a privilege.

“I see my scar every day. It’s a really cool reminder every time I step on the track of what I’ve been through and this almost second life that I’ve created myself, which I just love.”

More importantly, it helped change her focus. Before her injury, Hunt used to get nervous before the start of every race, although now things have changed. Instead, she uses it as a way to jumpstart her mindset and focus on being the very best on the track.

“If you’re not standing on the start line thinking that you’re going to win the race, then what are you doing?” she added. “I have to go out there every single time and think I’m going to absolutely annihilate the field and win by 10 metres.

Adaejah Hodge’s withdrawal may have removed the fastest woman on paper from the field, but it has also handed the chasing pack an opportunity few expected to have in Glasgow. For Hunt, the race is now about turning a comeback that once seemed impossible into the biggest individual title of her career.