Ánh Viên failed to meet the Olympic B qualifying standard in her specialty event.
Vietnamese swimmer achieved a time of 4 minutes 47.96 seconds in the 400m individual medley qualifying round at the World Championships in Gwangju (South Korea) on the morning of July 28.
Nguyen Thi Anh Vien finished 19th in the qualifying round, 12.56 seconds behind the leader Katinka Hosszu. The swimmer from Can Tho finished 7.41 seconds behind the final qualifying position and 1.07 seconds short of the 2020 Olympic B qualifying standard in Tokyo.
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Ánh Viên's performance at the World Championships was not as successful as expected. |
Ánh Viên's performance in Gwangju was also far below her personal best at the 2016 Rio Olympics. At that time, the swimmer nicknamed "Little Mermaid" achieved a time of four minutes 36.85 seconds. Ánh Viên's results in her strongest event have been declining. At the 2017 SEA Games, she won a gold medal with a time of four minutes 45.82 seconds. At the 2017 World Championships, she achieved four minutes 40.39 seconds. A year later, Ánh Viên finished fifth at the 2018 Asian Games with four minutes 42.81 seconds, despite having previously achieved four minutes 38.66 seconds at a competition in the USA.
Ánh Viên finished the World Championships with an Olympic B qualifying standard in the 400m freestyle with a time of four minutes and 13.35 seconds. She still has a chance to earn an Olympic qualifying standard until June 29, 2020, including the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines.
The Vietnamese swimming team also finished the competition without anyone qualifying. The team achieved one Olympic A qualifying standard from 19-year-old swimmer Nguyen Huy Hoang in the men's 800m freestyle, and two B qualifying standards (Huy Hoang, Anh Vien).
