{"id":554117,"date":"2026-08-01T04:02:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T04:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/554117\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T04:02:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T04:02:18","slug":"commonwealth-games-2026-torrie-lewis-and-competitors-react-to-200m-final-against-drug-cheat-gold-medallist-adaejah-hodge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/554117\/","title":{"rendered":"Commonwealth Games 2026: Torrie Lewis and competitors react to 200m final against drug cheat gold medallist Adaejah Hodge"},"content":{"rendered":"

August 1, 2026 \u2014 10:25am<\/p>\n

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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. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"AdaejahAdaejah Hodge (centre) crossed the finish line ahead of Australia\u2019s Torrie Lewis (left).Getty Images<\/p>\n

Hodge was originally banned after winning the 2024 world under-20 championships in Peru \u2013 a suspension that eventually meant Lewis was promoted from silver to gold.<\/p>\n

Watching Hodge be given permission to compete and win in Glasgow was galling for Lewis, who has previously said \u201canyone who has a drug charge against them will always have a taint to their name and some suspicion that come with that\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The AIU announced Hodge\u2019s reduced penalty in March.<\/p>\n

Asked about Hodge in Glasgow, Lewis said: \u201cI\u2019ve been told not to say anything of that. I would love to say some words, but not allowed to.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think everyone knows what I would like to say, but yeah, just fill in the blank yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LewisLewis won 100m bronze in an Australian record time earlier in the week.Getty Images<\/p>\n

Lewis didn\u2019t appear alone in her thoughts on Hodge. The other runners didn\u2019t embrace her or shake her hand at the finish line.<\/p>\n

Hodge said she didn\u2019t care what \u201chaters\u201d thought.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt [the last year] hasn\u2019t been stressful. I put all that behind me. It is what it is,\u201d she said after her win.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings happen and I just wanted to move forward and see what I can do, work extra hard and show that I didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

\"HodgeHodge with her gold medal for the 200m.Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s competition. Our goal out here is to win. I don\u2019t really know what to say about that. It\u2019s about competing. If you want to shake my hand, shake my hand. If you don\u2019t, don\u2019t. I\u2019m gonna be a good sport and tell everybody good job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shaniqua Bascombe from Trinidad and Tobago, who won silver, said she didn\u2019t pay attention to what other athletes did.<\/p>\n

Did she have faith Hodge was clean?<\/p>\n

\u201cNo comment. I don\u2019t know what to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Hodge\u2019s 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 \u201csubstantial assistance\u201d in an investigation.<\/p>\n

Despite the situation, Lewis was pleased with her sixth place.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Felicity<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t bad, you know. Considering this whole championships, I\u2019m really proud that I made the final of this, and tried to put up a good fight,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf 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\u2019m still happy with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Of course I\u2019m disappointed\u2019<\/p>\n

It was a weird mixed feeling that Nina Kennedy could relate to. She won silver in the women\u2019s pole vault but came away, disappointed \u2013 not only that she didn\u2019t win gold, but more that she made mistakes and only jumped 4.65m.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m disappointed. Of course, I\u2019m disappointed. I wanted to win, and I didn\u2019t, and that\u2019s OK,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve jumped that low (4.65m) in like four years, and I think that just demonstrates how tough it was. I know I\u2019m in better shape than that.\u201d<\/p>\n

In cold conditions, with gusty crosswinds, the world and Olympic champion struggled to find any rhythm.<\/p>\n

New Zealand\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, I\u2019m superhuman most of the time, but I\u2019m also human a lot of the time, and I make mistakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a really good hot-weather jumper, but clearly I\u2019m not a very good cold-weather jumper, and I\u2019ll wear that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat amazing tailwind that the sprinters have been getting \u2013 that\u2019s been like a complete crosswind for us. So it was so cold out there, but that\u2019s a part of it. And Eliza did better. She handled the conditions better, and that\u2019s why she\u2019s walking away with gold.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Isaac<\/a>\u2018I gave it my best shot\u2019<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Kennedy finished sixth in the men\u2019s 200m final.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, I gave it my best shot but they gave it a crack. I came away injury-free. It was f–king cold out there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we needed an Aussie in the final to show that we\u2019re one of the best sprinting nations in the world. So I had to go out and represent. I probably didn\u2019t perform as good as I would have liked, but I can\u2019t be too upset, you know. I\u2019m happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Sarah Billings it took two world champions to beat her in the 800m. Billings won bronze just 0.03 seconds behind Kenya\u2019s Lilian Odira, the reigning world champion. England\u2019s Georgia Hunter-Bell, the world indoor champion who won silver outdoors at last year\u2019s world championships behind Odira, took gold.<\/p>\n

That is the company Billings is now in, at the line with the two best women in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t believe it that I\u2019m on the podium with them, and they\u2019re just incredible athletes. And now I\u2019ve just got to believe that I am too,\u201d said Billings.<\/p>\n

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\"MichaelMichael Gleeson<\/a> is an award-winning senior sports writer specialising in AFL and athletics.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.\"TomTom Decent<\/a> is the chief sports writer for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"August 1, 2026 \u2014 10:25am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-554117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}