Aleia Hobbs on running unnoticed: “Being under the radar makes you hungry”
The USA's indoor record holder in the 60m spoke to Olympics.com about her plans for the 100m at the World Championships and Paris 2024, overcoming injuries at the peak of her career, and dealing with hateful comments on social media.
Athletics
At 27 years old, Aleia Hobbs has been sprinting mainly ‘under the radar’, despite winning a world title last year and earning an Olympic silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in 2021.
Even thought she's been on the track for the last two decades, her running often goes unnoticed. Her sprinting career began after her family witnessed her fleeing from a frightening dog outside her church at the age of eight.
In April, just three weeks after having surgery on her left hand, the American record holder in the 60m raced to the 100m world lead.
In February, Hobbs fell at the end of her 60m race at the 2023 U.S. Indoor Championships, breaking a bone in her hand. Despite the injury, she sprinted to 6.94 seconds, a national record that was just 0.02 off the world record.
Now injury-free and mentally energised following the adoption of her 11-month-old son, she is ready for her next big runs.
“I want to keep it going,” Hobbs said in an interview with Olympics.com.
“I just want to be prepared when it comes. I am feeling 100%, and when I am feeling 100% as my coach says, I will run fast. So that’s my number one goal.”
She is eyeing a return to the podium at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest after winning 4x 100m relay gold last year and reveals to be 'excited’ if she gets the chance to represent the U.S. at a second Olympics in Paris.
Aleia Hobbs: It all started after being chased by a dog...
For most athletes, career highlights often include winning medals.
However, for Hobbs, the magic of the first time she sprinted—never mind that she was running for her life then—created memories that will live on forever.
Chased by a dog for several metres, her feet hit the sidewalks outside her church faster than anyone in her family had ever seen her run. That terrifying moment influenced her family and friends to push her to pursue sprints.
“Everybody's like, ‘you should run track!’. One of the coaches, she was like a booster club mom, she said, ‘You should try to run track’.
She came, knocked on the door and was like, 'Come try out for the team’. So, I started running,” recalled the New Orleans native, who took silver at the 2015 Pan American Juniors over 100m.
“At eight years old, I got into the 100m and 200m, and I was just winning, like beating everybody from the start. I think I still have a record from nine-years old that still stands.”
Hobbs’ collegiate career was even more exceptional.
She became the first collegian to win the U.S. 100m title and the NCAA 100m in 2018, earning three NCAA titles in total.
Out of the 12 dashes she ran, she dipped under 11 seconds in 10 of them, including a time of 10.91 seconds at the Nationals.
That’s when she turned pro after her stint at Louisiana State University, where she majored in pre-human science and education.
The rising sprinter was excited to compete in the European circuit, but her knee wouldn’t allow it.
She missed the 2016 Rio Olympic Trials after a left knee surgery.
And just when she thought she was having one of her best seasons, her right knee gave in and required another operation.
“It was definitely an emotional roller coaster,” acknowledged Hobbs, who in 2021 ranked as the third-fastest American woman that season at 100m, behind leader Sha’Carri Richardson, and had the ninth-fastest time in the world.
Her ‘knee issues’ also influenced her decision to stick to the shorter sprints.
“After that I never went back to the 200m because we didn't want to risk messing my knee any more, and I was running the 100 too fast, so we could just focus on one…,” she explained.
Two Diamond League podium finishes in 2019 and a gold medal from the World Relays set her up for what Hobbs hoped would be arguably her greatest comeback season.
However, at the U.S. Olympic Trials, she false-started in the 100m semifinals and was disqualified. She was still named to Team USA’s relay team.
In Tokyo, she ran the heats, but was replaced in the final and ultimately awarded the silver medal her team won.
Aleia Hobbs: I don't want to be in the spotlight
The 27-year-old has also a world title to her name, despite not being on the track again after running only the second leg in the heats. She was replaced in the finals by Abby Steiner.
However, Hobbs still doesn’t get the attention that comes with it. Does it bother her?
“I like it. I don't want to be that much in the spotlight. I am a chill person,” she offered.
“I'm under the radar… Being under the radar, it makes you hungry. I like the hunger that it gives me.” - Aleia Hobbs to Olympics.com
“Some people say you need to race and run down the track and say ….ahhhhh,” she said, punching the air.
“You need to be tweeting about stuff. And I'm like, ‘that's not the person I am’. I'm not going to change it or fake to be on the radar. I feel like on their radar, part of their side is going to be me running faster.”
Aleia Hobbs on social media abuse
And when the focus is on her, Hobbs gets the wrong kind of attention. The Olympian experiences a lot of body-shaming.
“People go crazy on social media about me,” she revealed.
“Oh, my goodness, it’s horrible. Like everybody keeps saying, ‘that’s a trans…of course she's going to win, she's a man …’I am not, but its ok.” Aleia Hobbs on social media trolling
How does she handle the mocking and hateful comments?
“I kind of just ignore it… I try to tell myself, ‘Don’t worry about them, they are just talking’. But it seems that every time I run fast and fast, I get more and more,” Hobbs said,on how she’s learnt to dismiss the trolls.
“They do make me feel like alright I am going to show you all then. Every time I step on track, I am going to run as fast as I can.”
Indeed, she has been on a roll since dashing to the 60m American record in 6.94 seconds. Her un on 18 February in Idaho now ranks her as the second fastest behind Irina Privalova’s 6.92 from 1993.
Last April, barely recovered from the hand surgery she had the previous month, the former high-scoring secondary school basketball player won the LSU Invitational in Baton Rouge in 10.86 seconds.
On 6 May, she topped the 100m podium at the Atlanta City Games.
Aleia Hobbs on her parenting journey and goals for Paris 2024
Hobbs says she has been more motivated since welcoming her 11-month-old son, Amir, whom she and her partner adopted last year.
The baby’s mother left the boy, who was born two months early, in the hospital. The ‘adoption process was stressful’ but parenting has positively influenced her success.
“It's a blessing, because we've been wanting one and, but it just came in a different form. This child he’s in the hospital one day old…and he needs a family,” she said.
“Everybody (in the track world) has been supporting and applauding and saying it’s given them motivation too…to have a baby, because the drive is just different and they see it. It’s life changing …
“You learn a lot about yourself too, I love it. Even before a workout when I don’t feel like I want to do it, I am like ‘I want to do this because he’s going to be in Paris, cheering me on’.”
The Paris 2024 Olympics, wich are less than a year and a half away, have rekindled a fire inside her.
“A goal of mine is to make my second Olympics and make it into 100 and the relay. I know Paris is going to be even better.”
Hobbs is now physically stronger than ever as a professional athlete.
She has increased her muscle strength, which has improved her sprinting abilities.
“I got more serious in the weight room and smarter than what I was doing. After knee surgeries I have kind of been limiting my training, I just started squatting last year. That played a big part in my running, as I am powerful and stronger than I have been,” she disclosed.
“Also, my eating habits are still not the best, I got a long way to go, but I laid off of the fast food. I still got to make my way to the salads and the healthy side, but I'm making some progress, which also gets me more excited about Paris. By next year, I should be ready for the greens.”
While Hobbs has clear career ambitions, she also hasn't lost sight of other personal goals. This includes improving her dancing skills, which she admits are currently poor, and aiming to run even faster than her personal best of 10.86 seconds from 2022.
Aleia Hobbs will be competing at the LA Grand Prix on 27 May and the New York Grand Prix on 24 June. Her first race in the Diamond League this season will be in Florence on 2 June, as she seeks her third career win in the series after victories in Lausanne last year and Shanghai in 2019.