A week before her 25th birthday, Filipino-American standout Lauren Hoffman gave herself a big birthday present.
The 5’6” Hoffman took the gold medal in record-breaking fashion in the women’s 400-meter hurdles of the annual Hurricane Collegiate Invitational at Cobb Stadium on Saturday morning (Sunday in Manila).
Hoffman, who became eligible to represent the Philippines in October last year, ran in 56.39 seconds.
The world no. 47 Hoffman surpassed the 33-year-old national mark held by Philippine track legend Elma Muros-Posadas and an unnoffically-recognized record of Robyn Brown in the 2022 Southeast Asian Games.
Muros-Posadas, a two-time Philippine Sportswriters Association Athlete of the Year, held the national record in since 1991 after winning the gold medal in the Singapore Open with a time of 57.57 seconds.
Brown also took down Muros-Posadas’ mark in 56.44 seconds during the 2022 Hanoi SEA Games, but was not verified and ratified in the records of the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association.
This will be the second Philippine national record that Hoffman seeks to claim.
Last Feb. 11, and for the second time, Hoffman, a Paris Olympics hopeful, 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 at the Clemson Paw Invitationals at the Clemson Indoor Track & Field Complex in South Carolina.
Last January, Hoffman smashed it for the first time in the 2024 Clemson Bob Pollock Invitational indoor athletics meet also in Clemson, South Carolina.
At that time, the Virginia-based Hoffman grabbed the bronze medal with a record-breaking time of 53.91 seconds in the women’s 400-meters.
The 5’6”Hoffman, a recent graduate of Duke University 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 so she will be able to make things happen.
The old mark of 53.94 seconds belonged to Kyla Richardson, who set it in the Martin Luther King meet in 2018.
After joining six women’s 400-meter hurdle events last year, Hoffman, is in contention for Olympic qualification, having earned world quota rank of no. 31, three ahead of 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.