VietNamNet Bridge – Le Ba Khanh Trinh, a legendary figure in Vietnam’s mathematics, and deputy head of the Vietnamese delegation at the 2017 IMO, commented that this year’s Olympiad team members did not shrink back from difficulties.
Le Anh Vinh (left), head of the Vietnamese delegation at IMO
Vietnamese students won four gold, one silver and one bronze medals at the 58th International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO) in Brazil, helping the country rank third in the medal tally.
“The team members this year were very diligent, united and independent,” Trinh said.
Trinh said Hoang Huu Quoc Huy from Le Quy Don High School for the Gifted from Ba Ria-Vung Tau, who got a 35 score, sometimes played games when preparing for the international competition, balancing work, learning and entertainment well.
Among the competitors, Huy was not the most outstanding student and he spent less time than friends on study.
However, Trinh said, when attending international competitions, students don’t need to remember much, but they need to have acumen and resilience. When teachers gave questions, Huy usually gave original and concise answers.
“When marking the exam papers, the jury commented that a competitor had good answers for the geometry question. I read the answers and realized that it was Huy,” Trinh said.
Hoang Huu Quoc Huy and Le Quang Dung from Thanh Hoa were the students who usually gave the best answers.
Trinh said the high achievements gained by the Vietnamese students were a “nice surprise”.
“I believe these achievements are largely due to the good studying movements at their schools and the great efforts of the individuals,” Trinh said.
Le Anh Vinh, head of the Vietnamese delegation at IMO, also said the most special characteristic of the Vietnamese competition team was the good learning spirit.
“The students had 10-11 lessons a week during the three month preparation for the competition. When I visited them, they were not tired. In previous years, students always asked teachers to cut the number of lessons,” he said.
During the stay in Brazil, the students balanced learning and relaxing so as to have the best emotional and physical conditions.
As for the exam questions, Vinh said geometry and algebra were the strength of Vietnamese students, but there were only two questions in those subjects, while there were four questions in arithmetic.
The exam questions this year were the most difficult, especially questions No 3 and 6. However, the Vietnamese team gained the third position among the competition teams.
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