Hurdler Lauren Hoffman finishes heats at 37th, drops to repechage in Olympics

Debuting in the Olympics, Lauren Hoffman places eighth and last in her heat in the women's 400m hurdles as she gets relegated to the repechage

MANILA, Philippines – Lauren Hoffman dropped to the repechage of the women’s 400m hurdles in the Paris Games after finishing 37th overall out of 40 participants in the heats at the Stade de France on Sunday, August 4.

Debuting in the Olympics, Hoffman placed eighth and last in her heat with a time of 57.84 as she raced two seconds slower than the national record of 55.72 seconds she set in April.

Hoffman returns to action on Monday, August 5, for the repechage.

Only the top three in each of the five heats and the next three fastest advanced to the semifinals, with Tokyo Games bronze medalist Femke Bol of the Netherlands clocking 53.38 seconds to lead the pack.

USA’s Jasmine Jones got second with 53.594 seconds, while reigning Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of the USA ranked third with 54.595 seconds, looking relatively relaxed as she topped her heat.

In the repechage, Hoffman needs a top-two finish in her race to reach the semifinals.

The Filipina-American hurdler, who established a personal record of 55.47 seconds in 2022 before she started representing the Philippines, qualified for the Olympics by being awarded a universality berth.

Hoffman and fellow hurdler John Cabang Tolentino – who also claimed a universality slot – joined pole vault star EJ Obiena as the Philippines sent three track and field athletes for the first time since the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.

Tolentino also missed out on an outright semifinal berth, placing 32nd overall in the heats of the men’s 110m hurdles earlier on Sunday. – Rappler.com