‘Fill in the blank’: Why Australian sprint star had nothing to say about 200m gold medallist

Glasgow: Australian sprint champion Torrie Lewis says she was told not to speak out about banned sprinter Adaejah Hodge, who won gold in the 200 metres at the Commonwealth Games but was only running in the race after her suspension for doping was discounted twice.

Lewis came sixth on Saturday morning (AEST) behind Hodge, an athlete from the British Virgin Islands whose four-year ban was first reduced to two years, and then by a further seven months, by the Athletics Integrity Unit.

Hodge was originally banned after winning the 2024 world under-20 championships in Peru – a suspension that eventually meant Lewis was promoted from silver to gold.

Watching Hodge be given permission to compete and win in Glasgow was galling for Lewis, who has previously said “anyone who has a drug charge against them will always have a taint to their name and some suspicion that come with that”.

The AIU announced Hodge’s reduced penalty in March.

Asked about Hodge in Glasgow, Lewis said: “I’ve been told not to say anything of that. I would love to say some words, but not allowed to.

“I think everyone knows what I would like to say, but yeah, just fill in the blank yourself.”

Lewis didn’t appear alone in her thoughts on Hodge. The other runners didn’t embrace her or shake her hand at the finish line.

Hodge said she didn’t care what “haters” thought.

“It [the last year] hasn’t been stressful. I put all that behind me. It is what it is,” she said after her win.

“Things happen and I just wanted to move forward and see what I can do, work extra hard and show that I didn’t need it [performance-enhancing drugs]. I never will need it. I knew I had to put in extra work to prove to the haters that I am Adaejah Hodge.

“It’s competition. Our goal out here is to win. I don’t really know what to say about that. It’s about competing. If you want to shake my hand, shake my hand. If you don’t, don’t. I’m gonna be a good sport and tell everybody good job.”

Shaniqua Bascombe from Trinidad and Tobago, who won silver, said she didn’t pay attention to what other athletes did.

Did she have faith Hodge was clean?

“No comment. I don’t know what to say.”

Hodge was initially given a four-year ban for taking a prohibited substance but had it reduced to two years when the AIU accepted her explanation that the doping was not intentional, and she had not deliberately administered the substance.

Two other athletes from the Montverde Academy in Florida where Hodge trained also tested positive to the same drugs in a 12-month period, prompting an investigation and then charges against the head coach Gerald Phirri.

Hodge’s drug ban was kept confidential by the AIU, against its regular policy, because it said making the ban public could have jeopardised an important ongoing investigation. She was given an additional seven-month discount, leaving her free to compete in Glasgow, because of her “substantial assistance” in an investigation.

Despite the situation, Lewis was pleased with her sixth place.

“It wasn’t bad, you know. Considering this whole championships, I’m really proud that I made the final of this, and tried to put up a good fight,” she said.

“If you would have told me at the start of this competition, would I be happy with sixth? I would have said absolutely. So I think after the 100 [final, where she won bronze] I just put my expectations even higher of myself, so I just still need to remind myself that you know, it was a big goal of mine to even make this final. So I’m still happy with that.”

‘Of course I’m disappointed’

It was a weird mixed feeling that Nina Kennedy could relate to. She won silver in the women’s pole vault but came away, disappointed – not only that she didn’t win gold, but more that she made mistakes and only jumped 4.65m.

“I’m disappointed. Of course, I’m disappointed. I wanted to win, and I didn’t, and that’s OK,” she said.

She added: “I don’t think I’ve jumped that low (4.65m) in like four years, and I think that just demonstrates how tough it was. I know I’m in better shape than that.”

In cold conditions, with gusty crosswinds, the world and Olympic champion struggled to find any rhythm.

New Zealand’s Eliza McCartney, an Olympic bronze medallist who held the Oceania record of 4.94m until Kennedy broke it last month, beat the Australian on a countback, having not missed a height until 4.70. Kennedy missed at 4.65m.

“You know, I’m superhuman most of the time, but I’m also human a lot of the time, and I make mistakes.

“I’m a really good hot-weather jumper, but clearly I’m not a very good cold-weather jumper, and I’ll wear that.

“That amazing tailwind that the sprinters have been getting – that’s been like a complete crosswind for us. So it was so cold out there, but that’s a part of it. And Eliza did better. She handled the conditions better, and that’s why she’s walking away with gold.”

‘I gave it my best shot’

Sprinter Lachie Kennedy, who won silver and broke the national record in the 100m earlier in the week, had a similar night to Lewis, both showing perhaps the fatigue of racing day after day.

Kennedy finished sixth in the men’s 200m final.

“Hey, I gave it my best shot but they gave it a crack. I came away injury-free. It was f–king cold out there,” he said.

“I think we needed an Aussie in the final to show that we’re one of the best sprinting nations in the world. So I had to go out and represent. I probably didn’t perform as good as I would have liked, but I can’t be too upset, you know. I’m happy.”

For Sarah Billings it took two world champions to beat her in the 800m. Billings won bronze just 0.03 seconds behind Kenya’s Lilian Odira, the reigning world champion. England’s Georgia Hunter-Bell, the world indoor champion who won silver outdoors at last year’s world championships behind Odira, took gold.

That is the company Billings is now in, at the line with the two best women in the world.

“I can’t believe it that I’m on the podium with them, and they’re just incredible athletes. And now I’ve just got to believe that I am too,” said Billings.

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