12th grade male student wins double gold medal at International Math Olympiad

"I am happy to have successfully defended my gold medal at the International Mathematical Olympiad for two consecutive years. This result was my goal from the beginning," Pham Viet Hung, a 12th grade student at the High School for the Gifted in Natural Sciences (University of Natural Sciences - Vietnam National University, Hanoi) quickly shared after his resounding victory in the international arena.

Male student Pham Viet Hung returned to Vietnam after winning a gold medal at the 2022 International Mathematical Olympiad.

At 11:00 p.m. last night, July 11, the Ministry of Education and Training announced that all 6 students of the Vietnamese delegation won medals at the 2023 International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO), of which 2 students won gold medals.

The two students who won gold medals were Pham Viet Hung (Specialized in Natural Sciences, Hanoi National University) and Nguyen An Thinh (Specialized in Tran Phu, Hai Phong). Last year, Pham Viet Hung competed in the IMO and won a gold medal. Meanwhile, Nguyen An Thinh is the younger brother of Nguyen Thuan Hung - the 2019 IMO gold medal winner.

Viet Hung once shared that his love for Math started in primary school. Hung was interested in difficult Math problems and wanted to challenge himself.

Since middle school, the male student has participated in many Math competitions and won scholarships from Hanoi Star Inter-level School; won gold medals in the International Math and Science Olympiads; Hanoi Open Math Competition (HOMC); first prize in the city's excellent student competition in Math, second prize in the national excellent student competition in Math in grades 10 and 11.

Despite his excellent academic achievements, Hung is quite modest when admitting that he does not study much outside but mainly studies with the guidance of teachers at the High School for Natural Sciences.

Pham Viet Hung has made it a habit to only go to bed after solving at least one difficult problem. Usually, with the homework assigned by his teachers, he sets a suitable goal each day, such as having to solve 2 problems or 3 problems. Only when he completes his goal for the day will he go to bed.

However, sometimes the male student encounters a difficult goal and there are days when he is determined not to sleep to solve it. He shared that he once encountered a difficult problem about Combinations and it took him more than 2 days to find a solution. On the third day, Hung was determined to sit until 2am and come up with many ideas to find the answer.

12th grade male student wins double gold medal at International Math Olympiad - 2

12th grade male student wins double gold medal at International Math Olympiad - 3

With excellent achievements, Viet Hung received letters of commendation and gifts from the President.

"Whenever I encounter a difficult problem, I often try many ways. Even if the experiment doesn't help me get the exact solution, it can help me find a method or a path," Hung said.

Although he was a good student, Hung had times when he doubted and was disappointed in himself when he could not handle difficult exercises, especially during the national team preparation period. After that, he tried to find ways to review the lessons that he could not solve; reread and ask his seniors and friends to fill in the gaps in his knowledge.

The male student revealed the secret is to study for an extra 30 minutes when he feels tired. "Be patient, don't give up too soon," the male student said.

Hung also enjoys reading detective and science fiction books. He often goes to math forums to look up difficult problems and good solutions. Hung also practices table tennis, badminton and swimming.

This year, the Vietnamese Math team had 6 contestants, with a total score of 180. This result helped Vietnam rank 6th out of more than 110 countries and territories. Countries ranked higher than Vietnam were China (240 points - first place), the US (222), South Korea (215), Romania (208) and Japan (181).

Six students competing in the 2023 International Mathematical Olympiad and Professor Dr. Le Anh Vinh (head of delegation, left) and Dr. Le Ba Khanh Trinh (deputy head of delegation, right) before going to Japan to compete, July 2023.

The 2023 International Mathematical Olympiad will take place in Japan from July 2 to 13, with about 600 students participating - the largest number ever. During the two official exam days (July 8 - 9), the exam will consist of three papers, lasting 4.5 hours. The maximum score for a paper is 7. Candidates can receive the papers in one of three languages, but must register in advance and be approved by the organizing committee.

Based on the total score of the two exams, the organizing committee will rank the awards from high to low. The total number of gold, silver, and bronze medals must not exceed 50% of the total number of contestants. Special prizes can be awarded to outstanding contestants with impressive solutions and are not fixed every year.

Last year, six Vietnamese students competing in the IMO all won medals, with two students each. This achievement helped Vietnam rank 4th out of 104 countries participating in the 2022 IMO.

Ha Cuong

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