(VNF) – After completing the question #5 which featured Sir Alex Ferguson and MU, Phan Nhat Duy, student of the Ha Tinh High School For The Gifted gained his momentum to go on with the rest of the paper and won gold medal in the International Maths Olympiad (IMO) 2017.

Phan Nhat Duy, the football fan, gold medalist of IMO 2017 (source: The New Vietnam)

Duy started dreaming of participating in an International competition in Mathematics when he was in his first year of high school. He finally got the chance in his final year after passing several challenging examinations to be selected as one among six representatives of Vietnam in the IMO 2017.

"I love playing football very much, it is my best choice to unwind when dealing with stress.", Duy said.

The young boy particularly admires Manchester United and the club’s former coach, Sir Alex Ferguson, the one who made MU the greatest club in UK's football history by 20 times winning the national championship.

On the first day of the competition, Duy faced disappointment as he did not give the correct answer to some questions. Thanks to the encouragement from his teachers who accompanied the team, he quickly found back self-confidence and did his best to make a breakthrough.

On the following days, surprisingly, Duy's favorite football team - MU and his idol. Sir Alex Ferguson were featured in a mathematical combinations question. The football fan's mind was immediately refreshed when his eyes caught the familiar names.

Duy afterwards quickly completed the quizz, and it had created momentum for the contestant to go on with the rest of the paper.

Sir Alex not only brought victory to his MU, but also inspiration for Vietnamese gold medalist in International Maths Olympiad '17(source:vnexpress)

Duy finally got 25 marks, the score that won him his dream gold medal, as we all know. “When the result was released, I was overwhelmingly astounded, pleasant and emotional. I gave my teacher a big hug and cried on his shoulders. Right after that, I made a phone call to my family and relatives, my parents was so happy that they bursted into tears, too.”

Talking about Duy, Le Phi Hung, vice principal of the high school for the gifted in Ha Tinh province praised Duy’s intelligence and innate capability in Mathematics. “He has his unique way of dealing with Mathemetics problem, which is sometimes very different from the teachers' approaches. I learn a lot from him.”

At the moment, Duy’s planning to apply for Faculty of Mathematics, Hanoi University of Science and afterwards seek scholarship to study abroad./.

( Translated by Phi Yen )