For the second time, Paris Olympics’ hopeful Lauren Hoffman obliterated the Philippine national record in the women’s indoor 400-meter run.
The 24-year-old Hoffman finished second in the heats at 53.71 seconds on Friday (Saturday in Manila) at the Clemson Paw Invitationals at the Clemson Indoor Track & Field Complex in South Carolina, breaking the 53.91 she herself set in a bronze medal-clinching 2024 Clemson Bob Pollock Invitational indoor athletics’ meet showing, also in Clemson, South Carolina, in the last week of January.
She was behind Tennessee’s Briana White, who was first in 53.32 seconds.
“I’m really happy with my performance today. My goal was to get out a lot faster than my previous 400 performance from two weeks ago,” said Hoffman in an interview with the Manila Standard.
Overall, Hoffman, whose mother is from Caloocan, settled for 26th place, with South Carolina’s Jameesia Ford taking the gold in 53.31 seconds, Texas A&M’s Jermaisha Arnold grabbing silver in 51.75 seconds, and Team USA’s Karima Davis snaring the bronze in 52.04 seconds.
Two weeks ago, Hoffman smashed the record for the first time, claiming of one of two Philippine national records that fell in the Pollock invitational.
The old mark of 53.94 seconds was set by Kyla Richardson during the Martin Luther King meet in 2018.
The 5’6”Hoffman, a recent Duke University graduate, who saw action last year in the 2023 Philippine National Championships in the City of Ilagan, took a break from competition in the first weekend of February before coming up strong in Clemson Paw Invitationals.
“It was also my first time running a personal best in the 400 since 2022, so I’m very happy with this improvement,” said Hoffman, who became eligible to represent the Philippines last September when she finally got a Philippine passport.
Later, another Fil-American in Angel Frank placed third in her heat in the women’s indoor 200-meter run, with her time of 24.01 seconds behind Tina Martin of Duke University (23.55) and Aleksandra Stoilova (23.66).
Frank, who was 27th overall, was within range of her record-smashing clocking of 23.86 seconds, which she achieved in the Hokie Indoor Invitationals in the Rector Fieldhouse in Blacksburg, Virginia.
The clocking of Hoffman will again be submitted to the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association for verification and certification as a national record.
After joining six women’s 400-meter hurdle events last year, Hoffman is in contention for Paris Olympics’ qualification, having earned a world quota rank of no. 31, three ahead of fellow Fil-Am Robyn Brown (34), who is from Chino Hills, California.
A total of 40 will be picked by the International Association Athletics Federation to be part of the Paris meet.
When the outdoor season starts, Hoffman will see action in four IAAF meets to earn points and maybe the hit the entry standard time.