Source: VOVNews

Nguyen Dang Quy Minh, a 10th grader of Nhan Chinh high school in Hanoi, has won first prize in the 41st Universal Postal Union (UPU) International Letter Writing Contest held in Vietnam.

His letter was sent to 18-year-old mentally-retarded athlete Nguyen Huu Ky Phong in Thua Thien-Hue province, who earned a gold medal in the 50 meter-race with a record time of 10.50 seconds at the 2011 Special Olympics in Athens, Greece.

Minh’s letter was translated into French and sent to the UPU in Switzerland to participate in the international competition.

At the awards ceremony in Hanoi on May 19, Minh said that through the letter, he wants to send this message to everyone: that everybody is born with a range of hidden abilities which can be developed by themselves, and that in life, winning is not everything, the most important thing is to try our best to gain achievements and create a better life.

This year's contest theme was “Write a letter to an athlete or sports figure you admire and explain what the Olympic Games mean to you”. In Vietnam, the contest received 932,519 entries from all over the country. After five rounds of deliberations, the organizing board chose one first prize, three second prize, five third prize and 30 consolation prize winners, in addition to other prizes for the youngest entrant and the best entries from ethnic minority groups and blind contestants.