Nguyen Thi Oanh attended the world championship for the first time
Oanh only participated in one event - the women's 1,500m run - at the tournament starting on August 19. Among 56 athletes competing, she was in the wild, with running parameters ranging from 4 minutes 3 seconds 50 to 4 minutes 22 seconds.
The runner born in 1995 has been present in Hungary since August 16 with coach Tran Van Sy. Oanh will compete in the qualifying round at 13:15 Budapest time, ie 18:15 Hanoi time on August 19. If she passes, Oanh will run to the semi-finals on the evening of August 20. The final of this content will take place on August 22.
It is very difficult for Vietnamese athletes to have a chance to compete for medals, even to qualify. Oanh's best 1,500 m run is 4 minutes 13 seconds 88 at the 2020 National Championship, while many opponents ran under 4 minutes and 5 seconds. In 2023, Oanh's best achievement was 4 minutes 16 seconds 85 when she won the 32nd SEA Games gold medal, but with this parameter, the Vietnamese runner stands only 424 in the world. At the 2023 Asian Championship in Thailand, Oanh ranked fifth with 4 minutes 18 seconds 84.
The brightest athlete to win the 1,500m gold medal is the defending champion Faith Kipyegon of Kenya. Runner born in 1994 won two gold medals of 1,500 m at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, two gold medals of WAC 2017 and 2022. Besides, she holds three world records of running 1,500 m – 3 minutes 49 seconds 11.1 miles (2,000). m) – 4 minutes 7 seconds 64, and 5,000 m – 14 minutes 5 seconds 20.
Before Nguyen Thi Oanh, Vietnamese athletics often had only one athlete attend the World Championships and did not have good results. In 2022, Quach Thi Lan competed in the women's 400 m hurdles race and ranked 35th. In 2019, Ngan Ngoc Nghia stopped in the men's 100 m qualifying round. Also in this content, Bui Ba Hanh participated in the 2017 tournament. Further cases include Nguyen Thi Huyen in the women's 400 m hurdles race (2015), Nguyen Thi Thanh Phuc walking 20 km for women (2013), Truong Thanh Hang running 800. m women (2011), Bui Thi Nhung women's high jump and Nguyen Van Hung men's three-step long jump (2009).
WAC 2023 will be held in Hungary from August 19 to August 27 at the National Athletics Stadium. The stadium is located in the south of Budapest, next to the east bank of the Danube and was inaugurated this year with a construction cost of 658 million euros (about 17,000 billion VND).
Besides Vietnam, 10 other Southeast Asian athletes will also compete in Budapest. The Philippines has 3 people, including men's 400 m hurdles Eric Cray, women's 400 m hurdles Robyn Brown and men's pole vaulter EJ Obiena - World bronze medal 2022. Singapore brought the Asian women's 100 m and 200 m champion. 2023 Veronica Shanti Pereira, men's 400m hurdles athlete Calvin Quek. The remaining names include male 100m runner Muhd Azeem Fahmi (Malaysia), Silina Pha Aphay (Laos), male 800 m runner Hein Htet Aung (Myanmar), Manuel Belo Ataide (Timor Leste), discus thrower Subenrat Insaeng (Thailand).
