What happened to Hanoi's first Road to Olympia champion?

When mentioning Road to Olympia, many people cannot forget the face of Phan Minh Duc - the 10th year champion, also the first contestant from Hanoi to win the laurel wreath at the annual Final.

The first Olympia champion of Hanoi Phan Minh Duc.

In the VTV Memory program, the audience met Phan Minh Duc again. Sharing about his relationship with the program Road to Olympia, Minh Duc said: “In grade 4, I visited my grandmother in Quang Ngai and watched the program with her. That day, I was able to answer a few questions, then everyone just asked casually if I would register to compete in the future, I said I would try. When I was in grade 11, I registered to participate in the program.”

He said he walked from Hanoi - Amsterdam High School to the gate of Vietnam Television, left the application form at the security guard's office, and asked him to deliver it to the production team.

“I think my application is probably one of the rare applications for Road to Olympia without a postmark . Because I walked from Amsterdam High School to submit it at the security office of Vietnam Television, and asked the security guard to pick it up and give it to the crew. And that is the story of how I started competing in Road to Olympia,” Minh Duc said.

As the champion for the 10th time, Duc has many fond memories, especially the breaks in the final match, when the audience was watching TV commercials. "That's when we turned to each other to chat, sharing about our future plans. At that time, I said I would go to Foreign Trade University to study International Finance. But then I turned to a different path," he laughed.

For Duc, the biggest attraction of Olympia is the innocence and carefreeness of the contestants . “You guys come to compete simply to test yourself and meet friends from all over the world. I think as long as the program maintains that innocence, the attraction of the program will probably never decrease,” the 10th year champion shared.

Phan Minh Duc returned to Vietnam after studying abroad and is currently working in the education sector.

Phan Minh Duc is the champion of the 10th Road to Olympia, and is also the first contestant from Hanoi to win the final match of the year.

After graduating, Minh Duc studied Finance and Accounting at Swinburne University of Technology (Australia), graduating with Distinction.

In 2018, Minh Duc was transferred directly to study for a PhD in Energy Economics at Swinburne University of Technology, Australia. The Olympia champion in 2010 also teaches Principles of Economics.

However, in March 2021, Duc suddenly decided to stop his PhD path to switch to studying for a Master's degree in Business Information Systems, aiming for digital transformation. " When I was in college, I never decided whether I would stay abroad or return to Vietnam. But after accumulating enough experience, I realized that my homeland is the best place to develop myself, and from there share values with the community, " he confided.

In 2024, Minh Duc returned to Vietnam and became the Head of Academic Department at Edison Center, in charge of academic and career orientation for students. At the same time, he founded an SAT and IELTS preparation center called Future class - Road to the top of 1600 SAT and implemented the 15-hour project to build digital SAT foundation knowledge for students from grade 9.

Talking about the reason for returning to Vietnam after studying abroad, Phan Minh Duc said it was not only a personal matter but also a desire to contribute to the young generation of Vietnam. " The choice to return or stay in Australia depends on each individual. For me, after studying here and working as a teaching assistant for a while, I wanted to bring the way of thinking in teaching abroad back to Vietnam."

Le Chi

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/quan-quan-duong-len-dinh-olympia-dau-tien-cua-ha-noi-gio-ra-sao-ar960258.html