Country: | Vietnam |
Sport: | Athletics |
Event: | 1500 metres, 3000 metres steeplechase, 5000 metres, 10,000 metres |
Birth Date: | 15 August 1995[1] |
Birth Place: | Lạng Giang, Bắc Giang, Vietnam[2] |
Nguyễn Thị Oanh is a Vietnamese athlete specialising in middle and long-distance events. She holds various national records, is the SEA Games record holder for the 3000 metres steeplechase, and has won 13 SEA Games medals and an Asian Games medal to date.
At the Southeast Asian level, Nguyễn's first medal was a silver in the 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar.[3] The following year, she won gold in the same event at the Asian Junior Athletics Championships, but due to illness, she had to take a break from running before resuming at the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.[3] There, she won a pair of gold medals in the 1500 metres and 5000 metres; she repeated this feat at the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines, and also added a gold in the 3000 metres steeplechase.[3] At the 2021 SEA Games in Hanoi, she defended all three titles,[4] and did so again at the 2023 SEA Games in Phnom Penh, while also adding a gold in the 10,000 metres.[5] Notably, in Phnom Penh, due to a last-minute change in the schedule, the 1500 metres and 3000 metres steeplechase were held just 20 minutes apart.[6] With her wins in the 2023 edition, Nguyễn became the first Vietnamese to win four individual gold medals in a single SEA Games.[7]
At the Asian level, Nguyễn was a bronze medallist in the 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2018 Asian Games and 1500 metres and 3000 metres at the 2018 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships.[1] At the 2023 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships, she won gold in the 1500 metres and came in fifth in the 3000 metres.[8] In the 2023 World Athletics Championships, she was ranked 13th in the 1500 metres.[1]