Nguyen Thi Oanh broke her personal record at the world tournament
Despite breaking her personal record, Nguyen Thi Oanh could not qualify for the heat, because she only ranked 13th out of 14 runners in the third round. The women's 1,500m qualifying round consists of four runs, and the top six runners each can advance to the semi-finals. In the same run with the Vietnamese representative, there were two other athletes who also set personal records, but also had to stop. To reach the semi-finals, Oanh had to run faster than Linden Hall's record of 4 minutes 01.45 seconds.
In the end, Nguyen Thi Oanh ranked 51st out of 56 athletes qualified for this content. The 28-year-old athlete ranked third in Asian athletes, behind two Japanese opponents, Nozomi Tanaka 4 minutes 4.36 seconds and Yume Goto 4 minutes 10.22 seconds.
The 20-year-old new top-ranked athlete, Nelly Chepchirchir from Kenya, took 4 minutes and 0.87 seconds, nearly 12 seconds ahead of Oanh. The athlete going forward with the slowest result is the reigning Asian champion Tanaka, but still nearly 8 seconds faster than the Vietnamese representative.
At Asiad 2018, Oanh finished fourth in the final of this content, after 4 minutes 15.49 seconds. The top two athletes of that year's Games were Bahraini of Ethiopian descent, and Indian athlete Chitra won bronze with 4 minutes 12.56 seconds. If she continues to improve her performance, Oanh can compete for a medal at the upcoming Asiad in Hangzhou, China in September 2023.
Oanh improved by more than six seconds compared to the Asian tournament in July 2023, when she finished fifth with 4 minutes 18.84 seconds. Tanaka or continental runner-up Goto also draws about two to three seconds, compared between these two tournaments.
However, Oanh could not break the national record held by Truong Thanh Hang from Asiad 2010 with a result of 4 minutes and 9.58 seconds. Thanh Hang is also holding this SEA Games record for this content, with 4 minutes 11.6 seconds at the 2007 SEA Games. Both of these parameters are better than Oanh's personal record.
The 2023 World Athletics Championships will take place in Budapest, Hungary from August 19 to August 27. Nguyen Thi Oanh is the only Vietnamese athlete entitled to participate in the tournament, according to a special rate in only one event, which is 1,500m women.
