Male student won silver medal in international maths recounts 540 minutes of 'brain-wracking' exam

toán quốc tế - Ảnh 1. — Vice Chairwoman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Tran Thi Dieu Thuy (right cover) presented a certificate of merit to Le Phan Duc Man on the afternoon of July 21 at Tan Son Nhat International Airport - Photo: MY DUNG

Having never been abroad or participated in international math competitions, Le Phan Duc Man - a 12th grade math student at Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted (HCMC) - surprised everyone when his name was announced on the gold medal list of the 66th International Mathematical Olympiad held in Queensland (Australia).

Village School

On the afternoon of July 21, the delegation of teachers and students from Ho Chi Minh City participating in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO 2025) arrived at Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

Meeting the press and teachers who came to congratulate him on the afternoon of July 21, Le Phan Duc Man smiled gently and shyly: "I did my best, this result is probably due to my luck."

During primary school, Duc Man was a student at a village school in Nha Be district (formerly, Ho Chi Minh City). In secondary school, he was a student at Nguyen Binh Khiem Secondary School, also in the former Nha Be district.

"I liked math since then, but my math results were not the best compared to many of my friends, and I was not the best in class either," Duc Man said.

But Man tried hard to study to pass the entrance exam to the 10th grade math class at Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted. According to Duc Man, his math studies were not really smooth. When he entered 10th grade, he participated in the 30-4 Olympic exam but did not achieve any results. At that time, Duc Man was a bit sad and told himself, "You guys are so good!"

However, Duc Man never gave up. He always tried to encourage himself in the next steps, always sought to learn and always said "maybe next time I will do better".

And indeed, the results of his subsequent exams were much better. In grade 11, Duc Man began to have a series of remarkable achievements such as the 3rd prize in the national excellent student math competition in the 2023-2024 school year, the gold medal in the Math Olympiad for students and pupils in the 2023-2024 school year, and the silver medal in the math competition in the traditional Olympic exam on April 30, 2024.

Then, in grade 12, Duc Man continued to win first prize in the city-level excellent student competition in grade 12 math in the 2024-2025 school year and won second prize in the national excellent student competition in math in the 2024-2025 school year to win a ticket to the International Mathematical Olympiad IMO 2025.

Try hard every day

The 66th IMO will take place from July 10 to 20 in Australia. The IMO 2025 exam consists of 6 problems (2 arithmetic problems, 2 combinatorics problems, 1 geometry problem and 1 algebra problem) and candidates will take the exam over two days.

On the first day, candidates will take 3 tests with a total time of 4 hours and 30 minutes. On the second day, they will take the same number of tests with the same time. So each candidate will have to take the test within 540 minutes. They will take the test with candidates from other countries.

"I know that my friends from other countries are all very good. This is my first time going abroad to compete alone, so I'm a bit nervous. So I just focus on my work," Duc Man said.

Man added that when doing the test, he did not focus on the difficult questions. He did the parts that he was most confident in and did them as he understood them. "There were some parts that I found extremely difficult, so I took my time to do them later, and maybe that's why I didn't have any regrets after finishing the test," Man said.

Duc Man always admits that he is not the best, but he is always diligent and tries hard every day. It was not when he knew he was selected for the International Math Olympiad team that Duc Man started to persevere with math problems, but he improved himself a little bit every day.

Mr. Tran Quoc Luat - a math teacher at Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted, who also guided Duc Man to win the silver medal in international math this time - said: "Duc Man was not the most outstanding student from the beginning, but he has achieved the best results thanks to his daily efforts and hard work.

After each lesson, Duc Man always researches more about the materials and lessons. He has been persistent since the first days I knew him (grade 10), and up to now he has achieved this result. This progress is really very certain and I find this very valuable."

No surprise

Ms. Pham Thi Be Hien, principal of Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted, said that Duc Man is a rather modest student. At school, he is an excellent student in all subjects and is very passionate about math, excelling in math.

"I am not surprised by this result. Man is a very meticulous and careful person in thinking and solving math problems. I believe he will nurture his passion to reach high and far," Ms. Hien commented.

Ho Chi Minh City offers 50 million VND bonus

On the afternoon of July 21, Vice Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Tran Thi Dieu Thuy went to the airport to present a certificate of merit from the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to Le Phan Duc Man. The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee also awarded Duc Man a bonus of 50 million VND.

"Your achievements are an honor for your teachers, your family and our city. You have been excellent. I hope that the city will have more and more students achieving high results in international awards so that the city in particular and Vietnam in general will become more famous in the international arena," Ms. Thuy said.

MY DUNG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nam-sinh-gianh-huy-chuong-bac-toan-quoc-te-ke-540-phut-can-nao-lam-bai-thi-2025072209180133.htm