Lauren Hoffman and John Cabang missed their respective automatic spots in the semifinals of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 Athletics after the heats on Sunday at the Stade de France.
Trying to make their hard-earned qualification count, Hoffman and Cabang, however, could not find the form they had during the qualification period.
The two Filipino debutants will have another chance on Tuesday, August 6. Cabang will take on the men’s 110-meter hurdles repechage at 4:50 PM, with Hoffman hitting the track next at 5:20 PM.
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Cabang was one of the three fastest runners out of the blocks and into the first hurdle. However, the rest of the field eventually caught up, and the Basque Country-born Filipino finished with a time of 13.66 seconds.
He placed sixth in the first heat where Japan’s Rachid Muratake took the win with 13.22 seconds.
Had Cabang matched his current national record of 13.37, he could have advanced to the semifinals as Brazil’s Eduardo Rodrigues did with that time.
Hoffman, like Cabang, also started well but faltered as the race progressed in the fourth heat of the women’s 400m hurdles. The former Duke University standout tried to overhaul the deficit but eventually finished last in her heat with 57.84 seconds – far off her national record of 56.49.
If a huge comeback happens in the repechages, Hoffman will have a short rest before going into the semis in the following session.
Cabang will take the semis the next day.
