Nghe An male student wins perfect score in Olympia Kick-off

Nguyen Xuan Phuong (11A3 Physics major, Vinh University High School for the Gifted, Nghe An) won the laurel wreath of the weekly competition. Photo: Road to Olympia

The Road to Olympia weekly competition on February 24 was a competition between 4 contestants: Phung Quang Huy (Hoang Van Thu High School, Quang Ninh), Ngo Pham Huynh Dat (Duong Minh Chau High School, Tay Ninh), Nguyen Minh Quy (Ung Hoa A High School, Hanoi) and Nguyen Xuan Phuong (11A3 Physics major, Vinh University High School for the Gifted, Nghe An). Among the 4 outstanding faces of the climbers, Xuan Phuong attracted the attention of the studio audience from the beginning.

In the Warm-up round, the Nghe An student not only delighted the entire studio with his ability to solve a Rubik's cube in 13 seconds, but also made a strong impression by correctly answering 12 questions in many areas of the Warm-up round, earning the maximum score of 120.

Through the Obstacle Course, Acceleration and Finish Line competitions, with accumulated knowledge, confidence and agility, Phuong won convincingly against the remaining 3 contestants with a total of 330 points. With the laurel wreath of the weekly competition, the 11th grader majoring in Physics at Vinh University High School for the Gifted became one of the four climbers participating in the monthly competition.

Phuong became the first contestant of the 19th Road to Olympia to achieve the maximum score in the Warm-up round. In its 18-year history, the program has only had three contestants achieve this result, all of whom achieved it in last year's competition, including Hoang Manh Cuong (Hon Gai High School, Quang Ninh) - the 18th Olympia champion, and two contestants Truong Vo Thanh Nhan (Cu M'Gar High School, Dak Lak) and Tran Hoang Yen Nhi (Nguyen Than Hien High School, Kien Giang).

Nguyen Xuan Phuong (laurel wreath team) and friends. Photo: NVCC

Sharing her feelings after convincingly winning the weekly contest, especially setting a record for correctly answering 12 questions in the Warm-up round, Phuong said she was quite lucky and also very happy and surprised after completing it. Because before taking the exam, she had read and tried many questions as well as guessed a few questions correctly in her part of the exam, Phuong smiled and shared: Completing the Warm-up round well helped Phuong calm down to enter the next rounds.

Like many other students, Phuong has cherished the dream of trying out the intellectual playground for students, Road to Olympia, since childhood. Talking about her decision, Phuong said that at first, thinking about having to face good climbers from the province as well as all over the country made her a bit self-conscious. Fortunately, before officially participating in Olympia, Phuong joined an Olympia club at school in June 2018, from which she made more friends, received a lot of encouragement, and participated in trial competitions...

Phuong confided: "It was my friends in the club who made me feel better, more confident to compete and win the laurel wreath."

Talking about his nickname “War and Peace”, Phuong admitted that it was due to his personality, sometimes he gets angry easily but also very easy to integrate, so Phuong knew that he still had to improve his personality. Leaving his family in Thai Hoa to study alone in Vinh was also a way to help Phuong become more mature and independent compared to his peers. Therefore, the student from Thai Hoa always kept in mind that “Opportunities almost never come naturally, they must be created by oneself”.

After winning the competition, Phuong said that the competition helped her to improve her ability to stay calm and withstand high pressure. Especially, it helped her gain new knowledge, make many new friends who share the same interests and passions, and create beautiful, unforgettable memories in her student life.

Chu Thanh