Hoffman, Cabang remain upbeat

Paris Olympics aspirants Lauren Hoffman and John Cabang are determined to make the cut after resetting the national records of their respective events late Wednesday in the Philippine Athletics Championships 2024 at the Philsports Complex.

Hoffman clocked in at 13.34 seconds in the women’s 110-meter hurdles for the gold medal and surpassed her previous mark of 13.41 seconds that she got at the Duke Invitational last year.

While the 25-year-old trackster is No. 30 in the Olympic rankings, she is intent on making it by hitting the standard of 400-m hurdles, an event that will take place on Sunday.

“From a strategic standpoint, I think the first half of my race is strong. I get fast early and it’s a matter of keeping that momentum for the second half of the race,” Hoffman said.

“We’re just putting together the last half of the race.”

Hoffman needs to hit the standard of 54.85 seconds if she wants to get an outright berth to France.

Jelly Dianne Paragile of Philippine Army came in at second place with a time of 14.16 while Lyka Miravalles of University of Santo Tomas took third place with a time of 15.23 seconds.

Meanwhile, Cabang is now at No. 24 in the Olympic rankings in men’s 110-m and hopes to continue his momentum.

“I’m running as fast as I can. I hope I can meet the qualifying standard,” said Cabang, who will compete in Japan next week.