Tran The Trung and the journey of bringing Olympia television bridge to Nghe An

Special letter to the Board of Directors

Tran The Trung has a special passion for the Road to Olympia contest and started to get acquainted with the questions since he was in primary school, although at that time Trung could only answer a few questions related to the natural field. In secondary school, he began to share this passion with his mother and sister and both of them enthusiastically supported him.

During his junior high school years, while his friends only liked to give him toys and clothes, the "gifts" his family gave Trung were mainly books about science and history to satisfy his curiosity.

In grade 9, a big shock came to Trung's family when his older sister unfortunately passed away. It was thought that Trung would give up his passion. However, because of the promise to his mother and sister, Trung tried hard to overcome it and was admitted as valedictorian to the Physics class at Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted.

With favorable input, Trung was also selected by his homeroom teacher and teachers in the Physics department, creating a source for the national team. However, Trung refused because he wanted to spend time on the Olympia competition that he had dreamed of. Trung's difficulty at that time was that for many years, Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted had not had a playground for students in this competition. Undaunted, Trung and another classmate in the IT class wrote a petition to the school requesting to organize a school-level competition.

“Actually, at that time, we didn’t know how to get into the Road to Olympia contest organized by Vietnam Television. So, I thought, if the school had a contest to select contestants, opportunities would come to the students in the school more easily.”

Tran The Trung

Tran The Trung is one of the typical young people of Nghe An.

Hopefully so, but as expected, Trung and his classmate's application was not accepted because it was simply "unprecedented". Undaunted, Trung later wrote a heartfelt letter on the school's forum with very heartfelt "confessions": "I think Phan school students don't need to study specialized subjects? Studying regularly is also good and if that student can bring honor to the school in one way or another, it is also a source of pride, right?... I hope that if you and the teachers read these confessions, please understand my feelings and create conditions for the school's students to participate in this beneficial intellectual playground...".

Trung’s letter was unsigned at that time, but for some reason, many students in the school guessed who wrote it. What was even more gratifying was that Trung’s confession finally made the school’s board of directors change. That same year, a school-level competition was held on a large scale. Recalling this competition, Trung said: “The first round, although organized in the form of a written test, filled the entire hall with candidates. It was not until the third round that the school could select the final candidate. Surprisingly, my competitor in the final round was also my classmate who had written the application with me, and I was lucky to be chosen.”

Bringing television to the homeland

From the school-level competition, Trung has had a long journey to reach the weekly round of the Road to Olympia competition. However, contrary to his nervous and anxious mood, Trung came to the weekly round with a very calm attitude: "The first time standing at the S14 studio of Vietnam Television, I felt so familiar as if it was for me. Maybe, because the Road to Olympia competition has been with me for a long time", Trung recalled.

During the competition, Tran The Trung also had many memories. If, in the first round, Trung had an easy time with an absolute victory over opponents from Binh Thuan, Thai Nguyen and Ho Chi Minh City, then in the second round, Trung encountered difficulties when he fell into the "curse" of the Road to Olympia competition. "For many years, the Olympia community has believed that contestants competing in week 2, month 2, and quarter 1 will never pass the monthly round. Therefore, before this round, most contestants were very worried," Trung shared.

Relatives shared joy with Tran The Trung after he brought the television bridge to Nghe An.

In fact, it was not easy for Trung to enter the second round when his partner was a strong candidate from Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted (Ho Chi Minh City). However, with a strong will, Trung finished with a very high score of 280 points and a gap of 155 points compared to the second place candidate. After this victory, Trung officially "broke the curse" of the Road to Olympia competition and entered the quarter-finals with a very confident mindset.

Surprisingly, Trung's opponent in the final round was a close friend in the Olympia community, contestant Nguyen Hoang Minh from Tran Phu High School (Hanoi). In fact, through the first 3 rounds, Nguyen Hoang Minh was also the contestant who always led with a fairly high score. Therefore, the dramatic final victory of Tran The Trung in a situation where "it seemed like everything was over" made the studio really "explode". This victory also helped Trung become the first contestant to enter the final round of the 19th Road to Olympia and for the first time brought the television bridge to Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted and to Vinh city.

Pressure is motivation

It was not until he reached the final round of the Road to Olympia contest that Trung became a famous face at Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted. Before that, Trung not only passed the entrance exam to Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted as valedictorian but also won the first prize in the Provincial Physics Competition for Excellent Students in the 2018-2019 school year.

In particular, although he is a student of natural sciences, Trung has a talent for playing guitar, playing instruments and singing quite well. Currently, Trung participates in many clubs at school such as Music Club, Basketball Club, United Nations Simulation, Journalism and Propaganda and holds the role of Technical Head of the Phan Boi Chau High School's Internal Journal.

Friends also love Trung because he is a very serious and straightforward person but also a very emotional person. He once burst into tears on the set of Road to Olympia when talking about his deceased sister: "You are the one who inspired my Olympia dream so that I can stand here today. Hopefully in a better place, you will still follow me in this finishing round, supporting me mentally to complete the competition in the best way".

Entering the final match on September 15, Trung kept himself confident, relaxed and did not think much about winning or losing because for him, “Getting to this final match is already a great success. I look forward to this match because it is an opportunity for the contestants to exchange and learn, for all the contestants participating in this year's competition to have the opportunity to meet each other. I also want to thank everyone who has cheered for me throughout the journey. This cheering is pressure but also motivation for me to continue to try and compete with all my might,” Trung confided.