In the 25-year history of the show Road to Olympia, there have been many pairs of siblings participating together, including Phan Minh Duc (10th year) and Phan Thi Phuong Thao (13th year). Recently, a photo of this pair of siblings was shared and attracted the attention of netizens.

Childhood photo of Phan Minh Duc and Phan Thi Phuong Thao. Photo: NVCC.

Phan Minh Duc (born in 1992, a former student majoring in Physics at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted) participated in the Road to Olympia for the 10th year and excelled in the final round last year, surpassing 3 other climbers to win the championship that year. This achievement made Duc the first student from Hanoi to win the overall victory at the Road to Olympia after 10 times of organization.

Phan Minh Duc, champion of the 10th Road to Olympia. Photo: NVCC.

Phuong Thao (born in 1995, former student of Tran Phu High School - Hoan Kiem, Hanoi) participated in the 13th year of the Road to Olympia program and entered the monthly round. Although she could not continue her brother's achievements, Phuong Thao's mountain climbing journey still left a good impression on the audience.

Phan Phuong Thao participated in the 13th year of the Road to Olympia program and entered the monthly round. Photo: NVCC

Many people joke about a very normal photo but few brothers can "imitate".

Photos of the two adorable brothers together were "dug up" by netizens.

After winning the 10th edition of Road to Olympia, Phan Minh Duc went to Australia to study Finance - Accounting at Swinburne University with a scholarship of 35,000 USD. Graduating with an excellent degree, Duc continued to receive an invitation to do postgraduate research and was transferred directly to study for a PhD in Energy Economics at Swinburne University, Australia. The 10th edition of Road to Olympia also teaches the subject of Principles of Economics.

Champion of the 10th Road to Olympia Phan Minh Duc. Photo: NVCC.

However, after 2.5 years, Minh Duc decided to stop studying for a doctorate because he felt that this field of study was not suitable. In June 2022, Duc changed direction to study for a master's degree in Business Information Systems, oriented towards digital transformation. Duc said that he wanted to work in the field of education and help young people have the right perception about their future career orientation. In 2024, Duc returned to Vietnam and is currently the Academic Director of the Future Me Education System. As for Phuong Thao, after the competition, she lived a rather private life and got married in 2018.

Phuong Thao held her wedding in 2018. Photo: NVCC

Sharing with VietNamNet , Minh Duc said he was quite surprised when people suddenly paid attention to the childhood photo of him and his sister. In an interview in 2022, Minh Duc shared that many people mistakenly thought that Road to Olympia was looking for academic talent while in essence it was simply a knowledge playground for students.

Phan Minh Duc takes a photo with the contestants attending the final round of the 24th Road to Olympia. Photo: NVCC.

Phan Minh Duc believes that in Vietnam, he may be an Olympia Champion, but when he comes to Australia, he is just a normal international student like thousands of other international students, still having to try and strive every day. “From excellent students to success, the distance is very far and depends on many factors. Therefore, I hope everyone will look at the competition with a lighter perspective and lower expectations so that the laurel wreaths worn by the contestants will have less 'weight',” Minh Duc said.

Vietnamnet.vn

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/quan-quan-duong-len-dinh-olympia-tung-bo-hoc-tien-si-ve-nuoc-hien-ra-sao-2351743.html