Students shine in maths and informatics Olympiads
Two teams of Australian high school students have pushed through the extraordinary challenges of COVID-19 to take home gold, silver and bronze in the world’s premiere maths and informatics competitions. All six Victorian students across both teams were able to compete despite the Stage 4 restrictions currently in place.
Supported by the Australian Maths Trust (AMT), six students competed in the 61st International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) and four students competed in the 32nd International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI). All 10 students took home medals, with Australia ranking eighth in the world at the IMO.
AMT CEO Nathan Ford said, “Australia has an excellent reputation for producing young problem-solvers and to see our students reach such great heights on the top international stage is remarkable, especially during COVID.
“Our students competed against 104 other countries in the IMO and 86 countries in the IOI and this is the second consecutive year that all Australian students who competed earned a medal,” he said.
Gold medallist Fredy Yip was Australia’s highest placed IMO competitor, coming in at 22nd out of 672 competitors. Tunan Shi was highest placed in the IOI, with a silver medal and placing 69th out of 343 contestants.
AMT has been sending an Australian team to the IMO since 1981 and the IOI since 1992. The teams are selected from an annual program of competitions, training schools and mentoring.
2020 International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) results
| Fredy Yip | Knox Grammar School | Gold |
| William Steinberg | Scotch College (Perth) | Gold |
| Andres Buritica | Scotch College (Melbourne) | Silver |
| Hadyn Tang | Trinity Grammar School | Silver |
| Yasiru Jayasooriya | James Ruse Agricultural High School | Silver |
| Zian Shang | Scotch College (Melbourne) | Bronze |
2020 International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) results
| Tunan Shi | St Kevin's College | Silver |
| Junhua Chen | Caulfield Grammar School | Bronze |
| Quang Ong | John Monash Science School | Bronze |
| Isaiah Iliffe | Sydney Grammar School | Bronze |
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