Vietnamese Math 'Legend', 17 years old, achieved perfect score in International Olympiad

At the age of 17, he won first prize with a score of 40/40, and also received a special prize for the contestant with the best answer at the 1979 International Mathematical Olympiad.

He is Dr. Le Ba Khanh Trinh, born in 1962 in Hue . Since childhood, he showed outstanding talent in Mathematics.

In 1979, at the age of 17, he participated in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) and became one of the most outstanding contestants in the history of Vietnamese Mathematics. At that time, he not only won the gold medal with an absolute score of 40/40, but also received a special prize for the contestant with the most beautiful solution. This was the only time in more than 50 IMO seasons that a Vietnamese contestant achieved this achievement.

According to " 5-year collection of Mathematics and Youth magazine" , the problem that helped Le Ba Khanh Trinh win the special prize was problem number three in that year's exam, proposed by the former Soviet Union. The solution given by the jury was based on equations of motion according to angular velocity and used trigonometric formulas to transform them into a system of equations. The solution was not simple.

Contestant Le Ba Khanh Trinh then had a different solution, "very beautiful, very unique", as praised by the Chairman of the international jury.

Candidate Le Ba Khanh Trinh (middle) during the IMO competition in 1979. (Photo courtesy)

After winning the IMO, the name Le Ba Khanh Trinh became prominent in the Mathematics community, known as the "legend of Vietnamese Mathematics", "the golden boy of Vietnamese Mathematics".

He then studied at the Faculty of Mathematics - Moscow State University (Russia). Here, he did his PhD work under the guidance of Academician Andrey Alexandrovich Gontrar, Vice President of the Russian Academy of Sciences .

Having successfully defended his doctoral thesis at Moscow State University, Dr. Le Ba Khanh Trinh had many opportunities to develop his career abroad. However, he decided to return to Vietnam and choose the path of teaching.

After returning to Vietnam, since 1991, he has been teaching at the Faculty of Mathematics and Information Technology, University of Natural Sciences, Ho Chi Minh City National University. He not only teaches students but also participates in training students at the Gifted High School, Ho Chi Minh City National University.

For many years, he has participated in selecting and training the Vietnamese team for the IMO competition, taking on the role of team leader or deputy team leader. Since 2015, he has also participated in training the Saudi Arabia IMO team, helping them achieve good results in international competitions.

Dr. Le Ba Khanh Trinh and two students won gold medals at the 2013 International Math Olympiad (Photo: LP).

Dr. Tran Nam Dung, Vice Principal of the Gifted High School, called Dr. Le Ba Khanh Trinh the “legend” of the school. During the more than 30 years under the leadership of Dr. Le Ba Khanh Trinh, the school’s Math team has contributed to the school hundreds of national awards, including first place in more than half of the years. In particular, the school has contributed 20 international and regional medals, including 5 gold medals.

Despite his many achievements in the field of mathematics, Dr. Le Ba Khanh Trinh always maintains a simple and modest lifestyle. He once confided: "I know my strengths so I choose the most suitable job, where I can develop my strengths. If I were a scientist or manager, I would probably be an average scientist, a poor manager. Being a teacher makes me feel confident and best suited to my strengths."

According to information from the Gifted High School, Dr. Le Ba Khanh Trinh retired after 40 years of working in the profession. Previously, in February 2025, he left the school's Math group. According to regulations, he reached retirement age in 2022, but with his outstanding contributions, the school still invited him to continue holding the position of Head of the Math group until the beginning of this year.

Libra (Summary)

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/huyen-thoai-tan-hoc-viet-nam-17-tuoi-dat-diem-tuyet-doi-olympic-quoc-te-ar956726.html