Thanh Hoa male student wins Road to Olympia 2023

This is the first time Ham Rong High School has had a student win the annual laurel wreath of this playground.

Up to this point, Manh holds the record for the highest total score in a match at Road to Olympia 23 with 345 points in the match of week 3, month 1, quarter 3 (April 24, 2023).

While many contestants set the goal of competing in the Road to Olympia from middle school, this Thanh Hoa student only cherished the goal of participating until the end of grade 10. At that time, he had just participated in the knowledge contest "Echoes of Thanh Hoa", achieved good results and wondered "why not try your hand at a bigger playground?".

The first time, Manh sent his registration to the wrong address. The second time he sent his application, he also received no response. When the organizers started sending out invitations for the third round of filming, seeing that many people in the Olympia community had received responses, Manh thought he would have to wait for the next round, or would not have the opportunity to compete.

"Until I was called by the organizers to compete in the third round, I was overwhelmed. At that time, I only set a goal of passing the weekly round, and even thought that if I lost, I wouldn't lose too much. Now, reaching the finals is a result beyond my expectations," Manh said.

In the weekly and monthly competitions, with just one hint, the male student from Ham Rong School answered the keywords correctly in the obstacle course, creating a gap in scores with his fellow contestants. However, Manh said that this was not his forte. He considered himself lucky because the answers came from sudden thoughts, and he did not have much time to consider.

For Manh, the most confident part of the competition is the finish line. He once won 110 points in this part in the weekly competition. The male student believes that the good thing about this part is that in addition to thinking about the answer, the contestant needs to pay attention to whether or not to lose points if he answers incorrectly, and how his result will compare to his opponents. This thought helps Manh calculate whether to ring the bell or not, each choice needs to be certain.

Self-assessing that his mentality was not stable, English and physics and chemistry practice questions were his weaknesses, so before entering the finals of the year, the Thanh Hoa male student also practiced more to improve his competitive spirit, practiced listening to foreign languages, reviewed practice instructions in textbooks, and on Youtube.

Mr. Duong Van Hanh, a math teacher and homeroom teacher at Xuan Manh, assessed his student's advantage as his desire to learn. Manh is on the math team, but the teacher "always feels that Manh can major in any subject" because he studies well, has a good memory and knowledge base, and a serious attitude towards learning.

Manh is also active in school activities and enthusiastic with his friends. He balances well between studying and entertainment, so he is not a "bookworm".