Vietnam’s Nguyen Huy Hoang wins men’s 1,500m freestyle gold at Asian Championships

The gold marks a breakthrough for Hoang, whose previous best result at continental level was a silver medal in the same event at the 2018 Asian Games.

Ilya Sibirtsev of Uzbekistan finished second in 15:23.35, with India’s Kushagra Rawat taking bronze in 15:30.88.

Hoang, who swam in lane four, moved into the lead at the 1,200m mark and maintained his pace to finish more than eight seconds ahead of the field.

Several leading swimmers from China, Japan and South Korea did not compete in the event.

Hoang’s time was his fastest in more than two years and an improvement on his performances at the Paris 2024 Olympics and this year’s World Aquatics Championships.

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, he clocked 15:19.39 in the 1,500m. 

He swam 15:18.63 at the World Aquatics Championships in August.