Đoàn Lê Anh Đức wins Olympia 2026 with 240 points and $50,000 prize

A 60 point victory brings another crown to Hanoi

Đoàn Lê Anh Đức, a history specialist at Hanoi–Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, won Vietnam's Đường lên đỉnh Olympia final on November 1, 2026, finishing with 240 points and a prize worth US$50,000. His victory gave the school its second consecutive championship, following Trần Bùi Bảo Khánh's win in 2025.

Nguyễn Huy Quang Minh, of Thái Bình High School for the Gifted in Hưng Yên, finished second with 180 points and received 200 million dong. Trần Võ Gia Bảo, of Lê Quý Đôn–Đông Hải High School for the Gifted in Khánh Hòa, scored 165, while Lý Thái Dương, of Hùng Vương High School for the Gifted in Phú Thọ, finished with 105. Both received third prizes worth 100 million dong each.

Anh Đức secured the title through a decisive advance in the speed round, a successful gamble on a literature question and points collected when other contestants missed their answers. His final advantage over Quang Minh was 60 points, although he had trailed Thái Dương after each of the opening two rounds.

The annual final brought together four winners of the programme's quarterly contests. Broadcast live on VTV3 from 8:30 a.m., it connected Vietnam Television's studio with supporters at four public venues in Hanoi, Hưng Yên, Phú Thọ and Khánh Hòa.

Alongside the cash award, Anh Đức received the champion's laurel wreath, a commemorative trophy and an opportunity to study abroad. No destination or departure date was announced.

Thái Dương sets the early pace

Families, teachers and friends began gathering at Studio S14 from 8 a.m. Before competing, the students checked their mice and keyboards and arranged objects with personal or lucky meanings on their podiums. Khánh Vy and Ngọc Huy hosted the studio contest.

Quang Minh competed first in the individual opening round, followed by Anh Đức, Gia Bảo and Thái Dương, according to the draw. Each faced six questions. Quang Minh earned 10 points, Anh Đức and Gia Bảo collected 30 each, and Thái Dương answered five correctly for 50.

The shared opening questions gave contestants further opportunities to compete for the buzzer. Thái Dương remained ahead at the end of the round with 85 points, just five more than Anh Đức. Gia Bảo had 35 and Quang Minh 10.

Thái Dương's opening performance was a substantial improvement on his earlier appearances. He said his score in that round exceeded his combined opening scores from the weekly, monthly and quarterly contests that had brought him to the final.

Gia Bảo solves the obstacle early

Gia Bảo changed the shape of the contest in Vượt chướng ngại vật, the obstacle round. Contestants answer clues that help reveal a hidden keyword, deciding when they have enough information to attempt the solution.

After the second clue question, Gia Bảo pressed the buzzer and correctly identified the keyword as Tự học, meaning independent study or learning by oneself. The answer earned him 50 points and lifted his total to 85.

His intervention left the leading three contestants separated by only 10 points. Thái Dương finished the round with 95, Anh Đức with 90 and Gia Bảo with 85. Quang Minh remained fourth with 20.

Gia Bảo had already used an early obstacle answer to recover during his monthly contest. On that occasion, he identified Đất rừng phương Nam, a Vietnamese literary title, after just one clue. In the annual final, another quick decision brought him back into close contention.

The speed round changes the leader

Anh Đức took control during Tăng tốc, the four question acceleration round. Correct answers receive different scores according to response speed, with the fastest earning 40 points, followed by 30, 20 and 10. Contestants therefore need both accuracy and quick decisions.

Quang Minh made the largest gain in this round, adding 110 points to move from 20 to 130. He earned 40 points on each of the first two questions, recovering much of the ground lost earlier.

Anh Đức added 100 points, rising from 90 to 190. He collected 30 on the first question, 40 on the third and another 30 on the last. His combination of a stronger starting position and rapid answers put him ahead before the final round.

Gia Bảo added 70 points to reach 155, while Thái Dương gained 50 to finish on 145. Anh Đức entered the finish round with a 35 point advantage over Gia Bảo, compared with the five point deficit he had faced after the obstacle round.

The scores also showed how quickly the order could change. Thái Dương had led through two rounds, Gia Bảo had closed the gap with one keyword, and Quang Minh had just recorded the biggest acceleration gain. All four still had their own final question packages to attempt.

A literature answer steadies Anh Đức

Anh Đức went first in Về đích, the finish round, choosing questions worth 20, 30 and 20 points. Contestants can also use Ngôi sao Hy vọng, the Star of Hope, to double the reward for a correct answer on a selected question. An unsuccessful attempt brings a penalty.

His first two questions produced no points for him. Thái Dương took the opportunity to answer the first, a mathematics question, and earned 20 points. Anh Đức also missed the second, which concerned gases used in calculating the air quality index, or AQI, a measure used to communicate air pollution levels.

Anh Đức then placed his Star of Hope on the final question, which asked him to identify a writer from a passage about the richness and beauty of Vietnamese. He correctly named Nguyễn Tuân and earned 40 points, ending his own turn with 210.

Before choosing his questions, Anh Đức said he had followed Olympia for six years. He thanked his grandparents, parents, other relatives, school leaders, classmates in class 12 History 1 and his homeroom teacher. He also hoped a championship would become a birthday gift for that teacher.

Answers from other turns secure the title

Thái Dương chose the same package of 20, 30 and 20 points but missed all three questions. Gia Bảo answered his second question for 30 points, while Anh Đức collected 20 from the final biology question, increasing his total to 230.

The biology question concerned identifying family relationships through the maternal line when DNA in the cell nucleus is difficult to analyse. Anh Đức supplied the answer involving mitochondria, structures inside cells whose DNA is useful for tracing maternal ancestry.

Gia Bảo next selected three questions worth 20 points each. When he missed a history question about the first head of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, Anh Đức answered Nguyễn Văn Tố and gained another 20 points.

Gia Bảo answered his second question correctly but missed his final question after selecting the Star of Hope. Anh Đức also attempted that question unsuccessfully and lost 10 points, leaving him with his winning total of 240. Gia Bảo finished with 165.

Quang Minh closed the competition with three questions worth 20 points each. He answered the first correctly, missed the second and successfully used the Star of Hope on the last, a chemistry question about the alloy Nitinol. Those answers took him to 180 and second place. Thái Dương lost 10 points after an unsuccessful attempt at Quang Minh's mathematics question and finished with 105.

Four different routes to the final

Quang Minh arrived with the highest quarterly winning score among the finalists, 225 points. His 345 points in the first monthly contest of the third quarter were also the season's highest monthly score. A biology specialist, he had described reaching the annual final as the biggest mutation in his own journey, drawing on his interest in the subject.

Anh Đức qualified with 220 points in the fourth quarterly contest, only five fewer than Quang Minh. Earlier, he had scored 230 in his weekly appearance and 330 in the monthly round. His weekly second place was enough to keep him in the competition through the qualifying route for the highest scoring runners-up.

Gia Bảo also progressed after finishing second in a weekly contest, where he scored 260. He then earned 210 in the monthly round and won the first quarterly contest with 175. A chemistry specialist, he spoke before the final about daring to try new challenges and wanting to introduce Khánh Hòa's culture to international friends.

Thái Dương, another chemistry specialist, scored 190 in his weekly contest, 180 in the monthly round and 200 when winning the second quarterly contest. He said the Olympia journey had helped him develop confidence under pressure and strengthened his wish to continue learning.

The finalists' qualifying sequence stretched across the season:

• First quarter: Gia Bảo became the first finalist with 175 points.
• Second quarter: Thái Dương qualified with 200 points.
• Third quarter: Quang Minh won his place with 225 points.
• Fourth quarter: Anh Đức completed the lineup with 220 points.
• November 1, 2026: Anh Đức won the annual final with 240 points.

Four communities join the studio contest

Hanoi's supporters gathered at the Hanoi Museum, while Quang Minh's supporters watched from Thái Bình Square, near the monument to President Hồ Chí Minh with Vietnamese farmers in Trà Lý ward, Hưng Yên.

Thái Dương's gathering took place at the monument to President Hồ Chí Minh with the national festival in the Đền Hùng historic site in Phú Thọ. More than 5,000 supporters attended. Gia Bảo's supporters gathered at Bình Sơn Beach Park in Đông Hải ward, Khánh Hòa, where preparations had anticipated about 10,000 people.

Sơn Lâm hosted the Hanoi connection, Châu Khang the Hưng Yên gathering, Minh Tân the Phú Thọ venue and Thái Trang the Khánh Hòa event. Supporters also answered questions during a dedicated segment of the programme.

Rapper Đen Vâu sent encouragement to Quang Minh and the other finalists. Anh Đức's grandfather urged him to stay calm, confident and determined to win, describing him as someone with strong concentration and a good memory.

A school milestone after six years of preparation

Hanoi–Amsterdam became the first school to produce Olympia champions in two consecutive years. Anh Đức followed Bảo Khánh's 2025 victory and joined Phan Minh Đức, the school's champion in 2010, among its title winners.

The school has now had seven students reach an annual final. For Anh Đức, who studies history and can sing the national anthems of 135 countries, the championship brought together six years of following the programme and a final performance that drew on literature, biology and parliamentary history.

The other schools also reached milestones. Thái Dương brought Hùng Vương High School for the Gifted its first annual final television connection, and Quang Minh did the same for Thái Bình High School for the Gifted. Gia Bảo brought the final connection back to his school for the second time, after a gap of 15 years.

Anh Đức's victory ultimately depended on more than his strongest subject. The history answer helped extend his lead, but the literature question restored his momentum after two misses, and the biology answer supplied another valuable gain. Across the final, knowing when to attempt an answer mattered alongside knowing the answer itself.

Key Points

• Đoàn Lê Anh Đức won the November 1, 2026, final with 240 points and a prize worth US$50,000.
• Nguyễn Huy Quang Minh finished second with 180 points and received 200 million dong.
• Trần Võ Gia Bảo scored 165 and Lý Thái Dương 105. Each received a third prize worth 100 million dong.
• Anh Đức moved into the lead during the acceleration round, increasing his score from 90 to 190.
• His successful Star of Hope answer naming Nguyễn Tuân earned 40 points.
• Hanoi–Amsterdam became the first school with champions in two consecutive years.