Flyin' Frog to carry flag at Olympics

The Olympics begin today, and TCU is well represented with five former Frogs from four nations set to compete.

But none could be prouder than first-time Olympian Virgil Hodge, who will carry the flag for her home nation St. Kitts and Nevis.

Hodge, who was a six-time All-American and the 2008 Mountain West Conference Indoor Student-Athlete of the Year, will run for St. Kitts next weekend in both the 100 and 200 meters. She will be doing a weekly journal for GoFrogs.com.

Hodge has dreamed of this moment since she was a pre-teen.

Now at 24, as she prepares to go head to head with the world’s best sprinters as a member of the St. Kitts and Nevis Olympic team, Hodge is experiencing a surge of emotions: pride, anxiety and, most of all, gratitude.

She still vividly recalls the day so many years ago when she was told to give up her dreams because of a back injury she suffered when she fell in junior high school. One morning, two weeks after the fall, Hodge awoke to severe back spasms that prevented her from moving without intense pain.

Family members had to pick her up and rush her to a hospital in St. Kitts, where a doctor told her the unthinkable.

"He said I wouldn’t be able to run again," Hodge said.

Hodge was devastated but determined to prove the diagnosis wrong. After a year away from the track and some intense rehabilitation, she was cleared to train again.

She hasn’t stopped running since, with one goal in mind — the 2008 Olympics.

"It’s really a complete miracle I’m here," Hodge said. "I have to thank God for that."

She will run the 100 and 200 meters in Beijing, and there is a chance she could carry her country’s flag in Friday’s opening ceremonies.

Hodge’s goal is to make the finals in either event, but her best shot will be in the 200, where she advanced to the semifinals at the World Championships last year.

"The objective is to take that next step and make the finals, and Virgil has the talent to do that," her TCU coach Darryl Anderson said. "She’s looking sharp in practice, and nothing in China is going to be a surprise for her because she just did this last summer. It’s going to basically be the same players."

The times being put up by some of her competition, Hodge admits, are "ridiculous."

Eight women have posted times of 22.30 seconds or better this year in the 200, where Hodge’s best time is a 22.76. In the 100, seven are at 10.90 or faster, while Hodge’s top time is an 11.21.

"When I wrote down my goals at the beginning of the year, one was to run a 10.9 before the year was over," Hodge said. "I still feel like I can do that, especially now that I’ve been able to give my body some time off to recuperate. And if I do that, I know I can make the finals." .

--Rick