HÀ NỘI – Vietnamese students bagged four gold, one silver and one bronze at the 58th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) held in Brazil.

The rich yield helped the country rank third in the medal tally - the higest result achieved by Việt Nam in 43 years of attending the event, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) reported on Saturday.

The gold medallists are Hoàng Hữu Quốc Huy, a 12th grader from Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province’s Lê Quý Đôn High School for Gifted Students; Lê Quang Dũng, a 12th grader from Thanh Hóa Province’s Lam Sơn High School for Gifted Students; Nguyễn Cảnh Hoàng, a 12th grader from Nghệ An Province’s Phan Bội Châu High School for Gifted Students; and Phan Nhật Duy, also a 12th grader from Hà Tĩnh Province’s High School for Gifted Students.

Phạm Nam Khánh, an 11th grader from Hà Nội-Amsterdam High School for Gifted Students, won the silver medal, while Đỗ Văn Quyết, a 12th grader from Vĩnh Phúc High School for Gifted Students, pocketed the bronze.

Hoàng Hữu Quốc Huy was also one of the three contestants who achieved the highest scores at this year’s event, with 35 marks.

On his private Facebook page, the head of the Vietnamese team, Assoc Prof Dr. Lê Anh Vinh wrote "Vietnamese students have made a record in the history of Việt Nam’s 43 years of attending the IMO." According to Vinh, Việt Nam had gained the same rank in IMO 1999 and 2007, but the gold this year outnumbered the previous efforts.

Held from July 12 to July 23, the 58th IMO attracted 615 contestants from 112 countries and territories worldwide.

Gold rain in physics

Like the the Vietnamese team’s achievements at the IMO and the 2017 International Chemistry Olympiad held this month in Thailand, where four Vietnamese students earned three golds and one silver, Vietnamese students attending a physics competition in Indonesia continue to create records.

All five Vietnamese contestants at the 48th International Physics Olympiad held from July 16 to July 24 in Indonesia earned medals, four of them won gold and the remaining took silvers, according to the MOET.

The gold medallists were Đinh Anh Dũng, a 12th grader from the Hà Nội-Amsterdam High School for Gifted Students; Tạ Bá Dũng, 12th grader from the University of Natural Sciences’ High School for Gifted Students; Nguyễn Thế Quỳnh, 12th grader from Quảng Bình Province’s Võ Nguyên Giáp High School for Gifted Students; and Trần Hữu Bình Minh, 12th grader from Nghệ An Province’s Phan Bội Châu High School for Gifted Students.

Phan Tuấn Linh, also from Nghệ An Province’s Phan Bội Châu High School for Gifted Students, won the silver.

The results positioned Việt Nam in the No. 5 spot, after China, South Korea, Russia and Singapore, among the 86 participating countries and territories.  — VNS