The champion of The 23rd Road to Mount Olympia received the largest prize ever, a 24k gold-plated laurel wreath along with a prize worth 50,000 USD.
After intense and dramatic competitions in the Weekly, Monthly, and Quarterly rounds, Road to Mount Olympia 2023 finally reached the final stage with the four outstanding contestants: Nguyen Viet Thanh (Soc Son High School, Hanoi), Nguyen Minh Triet (Quoc Hoc Specialized High School, Thua Thien Hue Province), Le Xuan Manh (Ham Rong High School, Thanh Hoa Province), and Nguyen Trong Thanh (Tran Phu Specialized High School, Hai Phong City).
The crowning moment of the new champion of the Road to Mount Olympia 2023
Thanh Hoa bridge point burst with happiness to celebrate Xuan Manh's victory as the champion of the 23rd Road to Mount Olympia. Le Xuan Manh, from Ham Rong High School in Thanh Hoa, received the grand prize of 50,000 USD – the highest prize in the 23-year history of the Road to Mount Olympia program.
Although not leading in the Warm-up, Obstacles, Acceleration rounds, it was Xuan Manh's breakthrough in the final round "Reaching the finish line" that earned him the glorious laurel wreath. The second prize went to Trong Thanh with a reward of 200 million VND, both Viet Thanh and Minh Triet received the third prize worth 100 million VND.
Final round - “Reaching the finish line”
Entering the final round - “Reaching the finish line”, the mountain climbers had to put extra effort to reach out the laurel wreath of The 23rd Road to Mount Olympia. Based on their scores from the previous rounds, Trong Thanh with 165 points, was the first mountain climber to answer the question in “Reaching the finish round”, receiving cheers from Hai Phong bridge point.
As Trong Thanh was leading, he chose the safe questions package which included 3 questions worth 20 points each. However, in the first two questions, he didn’t answer correctly. When it came to the final question, Trong Thanh decided to go for the hope star. This decision proved to be completely accurate as he answered the last question correctly.
At the end, Trong Thanh finished the competition with 165 points.
Viet Thanh, with 140 points, was the second participant to enter “Reaching the finish line”. Being only 20 points behind his opponent made him feel worried. After some contemplation, Viet Thanh choosed a question package with greater point values than Trung Thanh, which comprised questions worth 30 points, 20 points and 20 points. Viet Thanh didn’t provide the correct answer to the first question; therefore, Trung Thanh quickly buzzed in to answer, giving the correct answer.
Under increased pressure, Viet Thanh decided to go for the "star of hope" in the second question. However, he didn’t give the correct answer this time. Once again, Trong Thanh took advantage of the opportunity to answer and earned points for himself. In the final question, Viet Thanh finally answered correctly, but he was left with 110 points after this round. Trong Thanh, with his breakthrough performance, accumulated a total of 210 points. There was a noticeable distance difference between him and the other three contestants.
Xuân Mạnh showed his determination by selecting a question package of 3 questions worth 30 points each. He gave the right answer to the first question. Unfortunately, the next question wasn’t answered correctly. When it came to the last question, Xuan Manh chose the hope star and excellently received 60 points. At the end, Xuan Manh had a total of 190 points.
Minh Triet was the last contestant in “Reaching the finish line”.
He was pretty emotional when receiving encouragement from teachers, friends, and family at the school and the bridge point. These were also his final moments at Studio S14, Vietnam Television, the moment of relief and happiness.
Despite having the lowest score currently, Minh Triet decided to go for the question package of 3 questions for 30 points each. For the first question, Minh Triet quickly provided the correct answer.
However, he was unable to answer correctly in the second question. The buzzer from Xuan Manh rang at this point. Xuan Manh gave the correct answer and earned 30 points, helping him surpass Trong Thanh, who had the highest score up to that time (220 points).
When it came to the final question, an unprecedented event occurred. Minh Triet decided not to answer, giving the opportunity for Xuan Manh and Trong Thanh to compete. Trong Thanh quickly rang the bell to seize the chance, but unfortunately, the male student couldn't provide the correct answer.
With 220 points, Xuan Manh had the highest score and won the championship round.
The competition for the audience at the bridge points
Facing three questions, all the bridge points quickly provided the answer. Hanoi and Thanh Hoa bridge points won first prize, receiving 10 million VND, while the Hai Phong and Thua Thien Hue bridge points came in second place, earning 5 million VND from the program's accompanying partner - THACO.
The unexpected appearance of Dang Le Nguyen Vu - the Champion of Road to Mount Olympia of the 22nd season, along with his encouraging words, helped
the four contestants to remain calm and confident as they approached the final part, the Finish Line.
Trong Thanh surpassed Viet Thanh in the Acceleration round
From the first question in the Acceleration round, all four contestants provided correct answers. By the second question, only Viet Thanh and Trong Thanh answered correctly. The third question posed difficulties for the contestants, and none of the four mountain climbers had the correct answer.
In the final question, Trong Thanh had the correct and quickest response, allowing him to regain the lead among the mountain climbers with 165 points. Viet Thanh dropped from the first position to the second, followed by Xuan Manh with 100 points, and Minh Triet with 70 points.
Viet Thanh correctly answered the keywords, leading in the Obstacle round
In the Obstacle-crossing round, the competition presented a challenge with 15 letters. All four contestants were eager to provide the correct keywords.
In the first question, Minh Triet gave the correct answer, "nature." With just a glimpse of the keyword image, Viet Thanh boldly pressed the buzzer to claim the right to answer the competition's keywords. Viet Thanh was also an outstanding contestant, correctly answering all the competition’s keywords in the Weekly, Monthly, and Quarterly rounds.
His calmness, confidence, intelligence, and decisiveness helped Viet Thanh rise to the top of the mountain climbing team with 70 points. Following closely
behind Viet Thanh were Trong Thanh with 65 points, Minh Triet with 40 points, and Xuan Manh with 10 points.
The Warm-up round
The final match of Road to Mount Olympia 2023 officially began with the first round, the Warm-up. After three rounds of questions, Trong Thanh temporarily led with 65 points, while Minh Triet and Viet Thanh both had 30 points, and Xuan Manh had 10 points.
The contestants were ready to enter the further round of the competition.
Entering the final match, the positions of the four contestants were as follows: Trong Thanh, Minh Triet, Viet Thanh, and Xuan Manh.
Each contestant briefly introduced their hometown and expressed their determination through two poem verses.
Viet Thanh: "Saint Giong soars with an iron horse. Soc Son shines brightly in the dawn."
Minh Triet: "Beloved Hue; Hue waits every day. Wait for me, Minh Triet, with the golden trophy."
Xuan Manh: "Thanh land, a place of excellence in education. Bringing back the laurel wreath, returning in glory."
Trong Thanh: "People of Hai Phong ride the waves, speak with the wind. Stepping here turns nothing into something.
The lively atmosphere at the S14 Studio of THVN and the four bridge points.
Singer Pham Anh Duy started the program with the song "Love Vietnam."
Taking on the hosting duties at the competition in the main bridge points are the familiar Olympia duo of MCs - Khanh Vy and Ngoc Huy.
The four exceptional mountain climbers of the Road to Mount Olympia 2023.
Soc Son Bridge Point, Hanoi City
Thua Thien Hue Bridge Point
Hai Phong Bridge Point
Thanh Hoa Bridge Point
A close look at the 24k gold-plated laurel wreath of Road to Mount Olympia's 23rd year
The 2023 laurel wreath is meticulously handcrafted from pure red copper and plated with 24k gold. This year's laurel wreath still features the distinctive image of the laurel leaf, honouring the beauty of Vietnam's traditional culture. The designer incorporated the image of the Lac bird on the Dong Son bronze drum as the central motif. The image of the Lac bird soaring through the clouds, overcoming storms to reach the vast sky, symbolises dreams and great aspirations. It also represents the journey of overcoming difficulties and challenges to achieve the glorious laurel wreath of the champion of Road to Mount Olympia's 23rd year.
