By MARK REY MONTEJO
Filipino track stars Lauren Hoffman, Kristina Knott and Hussain Loraña withstood the rainstorm to produce electrifying show in the 2024 Hong Kong Athletics Championships at Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground last weekend.
Hoffman, 24, timed in 57.15 seconds to secure the golden honor in the women’s 400m hurdles finals where another Fil-Am Robyn Brown (57.59) took the silver.
They outspeed hometown bets Ying Wen Ashleigh (1:04.02) and Cosette Leung (1:07.96).
In women’s 100 meters, the SEAG multi-medalist Knott proved she’s the fastest against her seven rivals after clocking 11.52sec.
Hong Kong’s Pui Kei Chan (11.82) and Tsz Yuen Luo (11.86) settled for silver and bronze, respectively.
Loraña on the other hand, registered 1 minute and 52.11 seconds to secure the gold and bested the six other competitors in the men’s 800 meters. American Sean Fontaine (1:53.11) settled for the silver while Hong Kong’s Mohammad Kamran (1:53.60) went home with bronze.
Meanwhile, Janry Ubas tallied 7.61-meter mark to bag the bronze in the men’s long jump won by Chinese Taipei’s Wen Hua-Yu in 7.81m. It was a 1-2 finish by Taiwanese as Ming Tai Chan made 7.75m.
The competition served as a test for the Philippine athletics team as it set to compete in the 2024 Philippine Athletics Championships here in the country on Wednesday, May 8.
