Võ Trọng Khải, a Year-12A1 student at Phan Bội Châu High School for the Gifted in Nghệ An Province, wins a gold medal at the 2025 IMO.—VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Relentless efforts have helped three Vietnamese students shine, as they bring home gold and silver medals from the 2025 International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) and the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI).

Võ Trọng Khải, a Year-12A1 student at Phan Bội Châu High School for the Gifted in Nghệ An Province, has won a gold medal at this year's IMO.

Khải grew up in Xuân Hội Commune, formerly in Nghi Xuân District (now Đan Hải Commune) in Hà Tĩnh Province.

His passion for mathematics was sparked by his father when he was still in kindergarten, through playful number games and mathematics puzzles.

Over time, his curiosity evolved into a deep love for the subject.

For Khải, mathematics not only provides knowledge, but also sharpens logical thinking and supports learning in other disciplines.

His innate talent, combined with relentless effort and a hunger for discovery, earned him numerous accolades before clinching the coveted IMO gold.

Three years ago, Khải made headlines when he scored a perfect 20/20 in the entrance exam for the school’s mathematics class, a record-breaking result.

This exceptional performance led to him being invited to join the school’s national team selection squad as early as Year 10, a privilege normally reserved for Year 11 and 12 students.

Mathematics teacher Phan Văn Thái recalled that this was such an unusual case, the school had to seek approval from the provincial Department of Education and Training.

“Even as the youngest member of the team, Khải consistently proved himself an outstanding student,” Thái said.

In his first national competition, Khải secured the second prize in mathematics.

Despite making the national team shortlist in both Year 10 and 11, he fell short of reaching the international stage.

“I was very disappointed,” Khải admitted. “But with encouragement from my family and teachers, I analysed my shortcomings and adjusted my study methods.”

In his third attempt in Year 12, Khải approached the exam with greater confidence and composure.

His efforts paid off.

He scored the second-highest mark nationwide, won first prize and earned a place in the Vietnamese IMO team to compete in Australia.

At the competition, contestants faced six challenging problems over two days, each session lasting more than 4.5 hours, covering number theory, combinatorics, geometry and algebra.

Khải scored 38 points, the highest in the Vietnamese delegation, and ranked eighth overall.

Standing on the podium with a gold medal around his neck and the Vietnamese flag in his hands, Khải was overcome with emotion.

“I’m so proud to bring glory to my country, my school and my family. I’m also proud that I overcame challenges to achieve my dream,” he said.

He credits his parents, “who never had the chance to get a formal education”, for instilling in him a love of mathematics, along with his teachers from Nguyễn Trãi Secondary School and Phan Bội Châu High School for the Gifted.

Thái said: “Behind the gold medal are countless late nights wrestling with hundreds of problems. Even at his most exhausted, Khải never gave up. His perseverance, deep thinking and ability to stay calm under pressure made all the difference.”

Trần Minh Hoàng, a Year-12 student from Hà Tĩnh High School for the Gifted.—VNA/VNS Photo

The relentless striver

Trần Minh Hoàng, from Hà Tĩnh High School for the Gifted, also secured gold at the 2025 IMO.

Born in Tiên Điền Commune, Hà Tĩnh Province, Hoàng grew up in a family of two boys, with a physics teacher father and a mathematics teacher mother.

His talent emerged early, nurtured daily through his parents’ guidance.

His mother, Trần Thị Thu Hòa, recalled that although Hoàng showed natural ability, his success was built on relentless effort.

As a Year 8 student at Nguyễn Trãi Secondary School, he skipped a grade to take the Year 9 provincial mathematics competition and came first.

He repeated the feat the following year, collecting national and international mathematics medals along the way.

Entering Hà Tĩnh High School for the Gifted, Hoàng scored 9.75/10 in mathematics, topping the entrance rankings.

In the 2022–2023 academic year, as a Year 10 student competing above his grade, he won the national first prize with 32 points, earning a spot in the IMO team selection.

As a Year 11 student, he won silver at the 2024 IMO in the UK.

One year later, in Australia, he claimed gold, earning 35 points out of a possible 42.

Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Hà Tĩnh Dương Tất Thắng said that Hoàng’s achievements are “a testament to the dedication of students, teachers and the school, bringing pride to our province and inspiring the next generation to strive for excellence.”

Đặng Duy Hậu (third left) and three students from the Vietnamese delegation attending the 2025 International Olympiad in Informatics in Bolivia.— VNA/VNS Photo

From scrapyard to IOI

In a remarkable story of resilience, Đặng Huy Hậu, a Year 10 informatics student at Thăng Long High School for the Gifted in Đà Lạt, Lâm Đồng Province, won silver at the 2025 IOI in Bolivia.

Hậu grew up in a makeshift home that doubled as his parents’ scrap collection point in Tân Hội Commune.

His father, Đặng Văn Bằng, recalled buying a second-hand laptop when Hậu was in Year 1.

The boy quickly became fascinated with computers, showing programming talent by Year 3.

Despite financial hardship, his teachers encouraged his gift, supporting him from district-level competitions to the national stage.

From Year 6, teacher Nguyễn Ngọc Tuấn of Thăng Long High School for the Gifted tutored him online free of charge, helping him earn numerous titles.

Tuấn said Hậu is a smart student with a rare and special way of thinking.

In regional and international competitions, there are often students who write hundreds of lines of code but still do not get any points, Tuấn said. Meanwhile, Hậu earns high scores thanks to his special approach, and has achieved impressive results.

Hậu’s achievements include winning the first prize in the national Young Informatics Contest (2023, Year 8), multiple provincial titles, the first prize in the Central – Central Highlands Region’s Informatics Olympiad (2025) and the first prize in the 2025 national informatics competition, an event usually dominated by Year 12 students.

He also won silver at the 2025 Asian Informatics Olympiad, achieving a perfect score in one problem thanks to his creative approach.

At the 2025 IOI, Hậu was the youngest Vietnamese competitor and one of the few Year 10 students in Việt Nam to medal at this level. His silver placed him 54th among 334 contestants from 90 countries and territories.

According to the Lâm Đồng Province's Department of Education and Training, Hậu's success not only boosts Việt Nam’s standing in global intellectual competitions, but also highlights the dedication of local educators in nurturing young talent from an early age.— VNS