Thanh Hoa male student said "there is nothing left to lose", broke through and brought the dramatic final match to the last minute, won the Olympia championship with a prize of 50,000 USD.
The final round of the 23rd Road to Olympia competition began at 8:30 a.m. on October 8 with the competition of four candidates: Nguyen Viet Thanh (Soc Son High School, Hanoi ), Nguyen Minh Triet (Quoc Hoc High School for the Gifted, Thua Thien Hue), Le Xuan Manh (Ham Rong High School, Thanh Hoa) and Nguyen Trong Thanh (Tran Phu High School for the Gifted, Hai Phong).
From left to right: Nguyen Trong Thanh, Nguyen Minh Triet, Nguyen Viet Thanh and Le Xuan Manh. Photo: Dinh Tung
Before the race began, the four contestants expressed their hometown pride and determination with a short poem. Trong Thanh encapsulated the identity of Hai Phong people with the poem "Hai Phong people eat waves, talk with wind/ Coming here, everything from nothing to something" .
Minh Triet is emotional and gentle with "Hue loves me, Hue waits every day/ Waiting for me, Minh Triet holds the gold in his hand" .
Viet Thanh introduces the legendary land, the homeland of Saint Giong through the sentence "Saint Giong flew up on his iron horse/ Soc Son glowed with the dawn light" .
Xuan Manh expressed his determination to win the laurel wreath with the verse "Thanh land, the land of excellent students/ Win the laurel wreath to return with glory" .
Trong Thanh after the Warm-up round. Photo: Dinh Tung
The questions in the Warm-up round were much more difficult than the weekly, monthly and quarterly rounds. Candidates pressed the bell quickly in the first two rounds but were more cautious in the last round.
Viet Thanh and Minh Triet rang the bell the least, showing their confidence. Almost every time these two contestants had the chance to answer, they gave the correct answer.
At the end of the Warm-up round, Trong Thanh temporarily took the lead with 65 points, Minh Triet and Viet Thanh both had 30, and Xuan Manh had 10.
Viet Thanh answered all the keywords Obstacle Course correctly in all 4 matches at Road to Olympia. Photo: Dinh Tung
In the Overcoming Chapters section, four contestants had to find a keyword with 15 letters. Trong Thanh entered this section first, choosing the first horizontal row, the 10-letter unknown - the missing word in a part of the song "Tuoi doi vong mong" by musician Trinh Cong Son. Only two contestants answered, Minh Triet had the correct answer "thien nhien".
On the second turn, Minh Triet chose the third horizontal row with the 7-letter mystery. But before the question was read, Viet Thanh pressed the bell to solve the obstacle with the answer being renewable energy.
Once again, Viet Thanh proved his excellent ability to overcome obstacles when he solved all the keywords in the weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly competitions. The correct answer helped Viet Thanh take the lead in the climbing group with 70 points.
The acceleration is the pivotal round, helping contestants break through in terms of score with a maximum of 160 points for four questions if answered correctly and fastest. With two questions about choosing the right way to escape in case of fire and military man Tran Dai Nghia, all four contestants gave the correct answer. But for the two following questions, only Xuan Manh got an additional 40 points, Trong Thanh got an additional 30.
Trong Thanh scored 100 points, bringing his total score to 165, temporarily leading after the Acceleration round. Xuan Manh scored another 90 points after this round, bringing his total score to 100. Viet Thanh scored 120 points. As the contestant with the fewest points in this round (30), Minh Triet scored 70 points before reaching the finish line.
Trong Thanh temporarily led the climbing team after the Acceleration competition. Photo: Dinh Tung
Interspersed with the contestants’ performances were exchanges at the connecting locations in Hanoi, Thanh Hoa, Thua Thien – Hue and Hai Phong. This part added to the excitement of the competition. Students at the connecting locations in Hanoi and Thanh Hoa won prizes when they excellently answered all 3 questions related to Chemistry, History and Literature.
With 165 points, Trong Thanh was the first contestant to start the Finish Line round with three 20-point questions. In the first two questions, Trong Thanh lost points to Viet Thanh and Minh Triet because he gave incorrect answers. The male student decided to put a star of hope on the last question, asking "liquid glass is a concentrated solution of which two compounds". Trong Thanh answered the name of the compound, but the question had an open parenthesis asking for the molecular formula. Viet Thanh was the one who rang the bell and answered correctly with the molecular formula.
This question required the opinion of the advisory board. In the end, Trong Thanh's answer was accepted, gaining an additional 40 points thanks to the star of hope. At the end of the round, Trong Thanh maintained his score of 165, still temporarily leading.
With 140 questions, Viet Thanh chose the 30-20-20 question package. The first question worth 30 points asked which 5 countries Vietnam has established comprehensive strategic partnerships with. Viet Thanh answered Russia, South Korea, India, and the US but was not correct. Trong Thanh won the right to answer with the answer Russia, India, China, South Korea, and the US, winning 30 points.
Question 2, worth 20 points, asks for the length of the meridian connecting Quan Ba district of Ha Giang province and Cai Nuoc district of Ca Mau province. Viet Thanh gave the answer but it was incorrect. Once again, Trong Thanh won points for the correct answer, bringing the total score to 215.
In the final question on History, Viet Thanh answered correctly and finished his exam with 110 points.
Xuan Manh was the one who made the spectacular comeback in this round. In the two Finishing rounds of Trong Thanh and Viet Thanh, Xuan Manh did not press the bell to answer once. He entered the Finishing round with 100 points, ranking third in the climbing group. At this time, Trong Thanh temporarily took the lead with 215 points.
Manh chose the highest question package of 90 points because "he had nothing to lose".
The male student got 30 points in the first question about the famous person Tran Tuan Khai. In the second question about Mathematics, Manh's answer was incorrect but no points were deducted because Viet Thanh later gave the wrong answer. Viet Thanh was deducted 15 points, his face clearly showing regret when his score was only 95.
Xuan Manh chose the star of hope in the final question, asking about the animal that Vietnamese scientists successfully cloned in March 2021. Manh initially answered "cow", then changed to "pig" in the last seconds. The male student won an additional 60 points amid cheers and explosions from the audience. Manh finished the contest with 190 points, only 25 points behind the leading Trong Thanh.
Minh Triet was the last contestant to enter the Finish Line round with 90 points. Similar to Xuan Manh, Triet chose the 90-point question package.
The first question asked which organic substance plays a major role in creating the white lines used by referees in soccer matches. Triet's answer was butane, which earned him 30 points.
The second question asked about two lines of poetry in the "old verses" that To Huu mentioned when writing about Nguyen Du in the poem "Respect to Mr. Nguyen Du". Minh Triet did not give an answer. Xuan Manh took the right to answer: I wonder if 300 years from now/Who will cry for To Nhu, in the poetry collection Doc Tieu Thanh Ky.
This answer caused controversy because the poem that Xuan Manh read was a translation, not the original. The program's advisory board determined that Xuan Manh's answer was correct, he won 30 points from Minh Triet, taking the lead with 220 points, making the race fierce until the last question.
The third question asked to find the smallest value of four positive integers. Minh Triet made an unprecedented decision in the program - giving the right to answer to Trong Thanh and Xuan Manh when these two contestants were competing for the championship, only 5 points apart. Trong Thanh won the right to answer, giving the answer of 10. The whole studio was nervous, silently waiting for the host to announce the answer. Trong Thanh's answer was incorrect, the correct answer should be 40.
The atmosphere at S14 studio and Thanh Hoa bridge was explosive at this moment. From the contestant with the "slowest" start, Xuan Manh spectacularly surpassed in the Finish line to step onto the championship podium.
The decisive moment of the 2023 Olympia final. Video: VTV3
The moment his name was announced as champion, Manh said he "burst into tears and couldn't believe it".
"I think luck has followed me throughout this journey. My teammates are all very good, I'm just luckier. I want to dedicate this victory to those who supported me, including my late grandmother," Manh told VnEpxpress right after the match ended.
As the first Thanh Hoa student to win Olympia, Manh hopes his journey will inspire younger generations. The male student, who received a prize of 50,000 USD (1.2 billion VND), said he has not yet decided whether to study abroad or not.
Four male students received awards after the 2023 Olympia final. Photo: Dinh Tung
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