They say when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. But one 29-year-old track and field athlete has taken those lemons and turned them into a comeback story for the Ages. Back in 2017, she was lighting up the track, running a blistering 22.09s in the 200m for Oregon. The future was looking golden, and it seemed like the world was her oyster. But then, bam—2020 hit, and everything came crashing down. After missing three doping tests, she was handed an 18-month suspension. But what about now? And who is this speedster?

Well, she is none other than Deajah Stevens. And for her, the ban meant missing the Olympics and lots of mental trauma. But here’s the thing about Deajah: she wasn’t about to let one setback define her. Fast forward to 2024, and she was back on the track and field, running 23.43s at the Griswold Stadium, Portland. It wasn’t a world record, but it was a sign—Deajah Stevens was making her return.

You could see it in her eyes: the hunger was back, and she was just getting started. But then came 2025. And guess what, Deajah is on fire. At the Mt. SAC Relays, she blasted her way to a 22.73s (0.8) in the 200m, finishing second. Since her return, she has achieved both her fastest time since 2017 and her first sub-23-second mark.

Deajah has returned after four years of absence to demonstrate her full competitive strength at the highest competitive level while simultaneously achieving impressive results in track events. The main issue confronting track and field today is understanding why the 29-year-old athlete failed to produce samples for prohibited substance testing during her previous ban period.

The roadblock that didn’t stop Deajah Stevens in track and field

Deajah Stevens suffered a major obstacle in 2020 that denied her a spot in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic competition. The athletics authority imposed an 18-month ban when she failed to submit to multiple sample collections, which restricted her racing until August 2021. Going through this ban became a massive challenge because she finished in seventh position for the 200 meters during the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The origin of this doping violation began when Stevens failed to inform anti-doping authorities about her new phone number that she had set up to shield herself from constant harassment, including the threats made toward her partner. Three neglected doping tests in 2019 initiated the track and field ban for this athlete.

The situation got even more complicated when Stevens explained that her new phone number had caused a breakdown in communication with the doping officers. When they couldn’t reach her, they couldn’t conduct the test. While the panel acknowledged her struggles, they still deemed her actions “unambiguously negligent.” Her excuse for one of the missed tests—blaming a dead phone battery and the location of her bedroom—didn’t hold up in their eyes.

Still, they reduced her ban by six months, taking her situation into account. Stevens wasn’t alone in facing this issue. At that time, Christian Coleman also ran into trouble for similar whereabouts failures. But in 2025, Stevens proved she was far from done.  It was a clear statement that she’s back in track and field, ready to compete at the highest level once again.