After a thrilling score chase with three climbers, Doan Le Anh Duc, a male student at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, excellently won the Olympia 2026 laurel.

With 260 points, Doan Le Anh Duc, a student at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, became the 26th Road to Olympia champion.

The male student's victory was decided after a fierce competition with three other contestants, especially the consecutive turning points in the Acceleration and Finishing sections.

This year's finals featured four climbers: Nguyen Huy Quang Minh, Ly Thai Duong, Gia Bao and Doan Le Anh Duc. Each contestant brings their own strengths, creating a race full of surprises as the leading position constantly changes.

Thrilling race, constantly changing positions

Right from the Warm-up competition, Ly Thai Duong made an impression when he won 50 points in the individual competition. Anh Duc and Gia Bao both have 30 points, while Quang Minh started with 10 points.

In the final round, Anh Duc and Thai Duong continuously competed for the right to answer. The two male students demonstrated knowledge in many fields, from natural science, history to culture and society.

At the end of the first competition, Thai Duong temporarily led with 85 points, Anh Duc followed closely with 80 points. Gia Bao has 35 points, while Quang Minh has 10 points.

However, the Obstacle Course competition witnessed a turning point when Gia Bao rang the bell to answer the 5-letter keyword right after the third horizontal question was asked. The male student gave the answer "Self-study" correctly, helping him score more points and creating an explosive moment at Khanh Hoa bridge.

After this competition, Thai Duong still leads with 95 points, Anh Duc has 90 points, Gia Bao has 85 points and Quang Minh has 20 points.

Entering Acceleration, the situation continues to reverse. In the first question about places recognized by UNESCO as world biosphere reserves, Quang Minh and Anh Duc won 40 and 30 points respectively.

On the second question, which required arranging Physics data according to timeline, Thai Duong and Quang Minh continued to score points. At one point, Thai Duong rose to the top.

The third question about decoding a 10-letter code created a turning point. Mr. Duc was the only contestant to find the answer "500 days and nights", winning all 40 points. The male student said he quickly solved the number "500", and the rest relied on judgment to give the answer.

On the last question, all four contestants found the "good" answer, but the speed of answering determined the number of points each person received.

At the end of the Acceleration competition, Anh Duc rose to the top with 190 points, Gia Bao had 155 points, Thai Duong reached 145 points and Quang Minh had 130 points. From the chasing position in the first competition, Ams male students rose to take advantage before the decisive round.

What's special about the Laurel Road to Olympia 26th year?

Mr. Duc is determined to turn 6 years of waiting into victory

Entering the Finishing Competition with the leading position, Anh Duc shared that he had 6 years of pursuing the Olympia journey with many happy and sad memories. To participate in the year's finals, male students received a lot of love and support from relatives and friends. Especially, two days after the final is my homeroom teacher's birthday, I want to become the champion to give her an early gift.

The male student chose the 20-30-20 point question package and did not choose the Star of Hope in the first two questions. However, Duc continuously answered the first two questions incorrectly.

On the question about the set of positive integers less than 1,000 made up of the digits 0 and 1, Thai Duong quickly rang the bell and gave the correct answer, 8,088. Coming to the second question about the gases used to calculate the air quality index AQI, Anh Duc continued to not be able to find the correct answer.

The turning point comes in the last question. Mr. Duc chose Star of Hope with a question related to a writer's concerns about the richness and beauty of the Vietnamese language.

Seeming to realize the answer right before the MC had not finished reading the question, the male student shouted loudly the answer "Nguyen Tuan". The correct answer helped Germany win 40 points, bringing the total score to 210 and continuing to maintain the leading position.

In the second round of the exam, Thai Duong chose a similar question package but did not get the desired results. The male student answered the first two questions incorrectly. To the last question about the type of DNA used to determine maternal lineage in forensic work, Thai Duong continued to be unable to give an accurate answer.

Mr. Duc rang the bell to win the right to answer and gave the answer "mitochondria", scoring more points from his opponent's test. At the end of the test, Thai Duong had 115 points left.

Gia Bao is the third contestant entering the Finishing Part with 185 points. Before choosing the question package, the male student spins the paper pinwheel as a way to motivate himself and get good luck. Gia Bao chooses three 20-point questions. In the first sentence about the first Head of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, Bao gave the answer "Huynh Thuc Khang" but it was incorrect.

Mr. Duc quickly rang the bell, answered "Nguyen Van To", won 20 more points and brought the total score to 260. The gap with his opponents had now become significant.

On the second question about the depth at which the radar to detect martyrs' graves operates, Gia Bao answered "4 meters" and won 20 points. However, the last question about "Sledgehammer syndrome at the slaughterhouse" caused the male student to lose points. Gia Bao chose Star of Hope but answered incorrectly, 20 points were deducted. Mr. Duc also rang the bell to get the right to answer but did not give the correct answer.

At the end of the finishing test, Gia Bao had 165 points left.

In the final round of competition, Nguyen Huy Quang Minh entered the Finishing section with 130 points after Acceleration. The male student worked hard to improve his score and finished the final with 180 points, winning the runner-up position.

In the end, Doan Le Anh Duc won 260 points, becoming the 26th year Road to Olympia champion. Nguyen Huy Quang Minh ranked second with 180 points, Gia Bao ranked third with 165 points and Ly Thai Duong ranked fourth with 115 points.

Anh Duc's victory was the result of a persistent performance through four competitions, especially the ability to take advantage of opportunities at decisive moments. From the chasing position after the Warm-Up, Ams male students gradually rose to the lead and kept the advantage until the final match ended.

After 6 years of pursuing Olympia, Doan Le Anh Duc reached his biggest goal. The 26th year laurel wreath not only marks a memorable victory in the student's journey but is also a special gift for the male student to those who have accompanied and supported him on the journey to conquer Mount Olympia.

The 26th Road to Olympia champion impressed with her ability to memorize and sing the national anthems of 135 countries, and her passion for Vietnamese history, poetry and revolutionary music. Before being crowned Olympia, Anh Duc was accepted into 4 specialized schools, winning the first prize for excellent student at the district level in History. In particular, my love for Road to Olympia has been nurtured since my childhood years, after watching the program on screen with my grandmother.