FUELING her Olympic drive, Fil-Am Lauren Hoffman clocked 56.68 seconds to set a new meet record in ruling the women’s 400-meter hurdles event over the weekend in the Duke Invitational meet at the Morris Williams Track and Field Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.
To the delight of Duke University alumni and students and running on a familiar track where she has competed countless times, the former Blue Devil athletics standout reset her previous meet record of 57.24 seconds in 2022 in a competition serving as a highlight of the school’s centennial jubilee.
She is currently ranked No. 32 in the World Athletics ratings, well within the top 40 athletes in the event who would make it to the Olympics were it to be held today.
Hoffmann, whose Filipino mom was born in Caloocan, earlier bagged a silver after placing second in the women’s 110-meter hurdles in a new national record of 13.41 seconds, eclipsing the 15-year-old mark of 13.65 seconds set by Sheena Atilano at a meet in Cerritos, California.
US-based Fil-Am Sports chief and former national pole vaulter Ed Lasquete said Hoffman would likely compete in the Wake Forest Invitational in Winston Salem, North Carolina on Friday (Saturday in Manila) and the Drake Relays next week at the Blue Oval Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.
Asian women’s 400-meter hurdles queen Robyn Brown will make her outdoor season debut in her bid to bolster her own Olympic bid in the four-day Mt Sac Relays opening on Wednesday (Thursday in the US) at the Mt. Sac Hilmer Lodge Stadium in Walnut, California.
Brown is currently No. 36 in the World Athletics ratings in the event.
She will be joined in the World Athletics Combined Event Tour silver competition by sprinter and Tokyo Olympian Kristina Knott and six-time Southeast Asian Games 400-meter hurdles gold
