61st International Mathematical Olympiad

THE PHILIPPINES WINS ITS 4TH GOLD MEDAL IN THE INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD

The Philippines won a Gold Medal, two Bronze Medals, and three Honorable Mention Awards in the 61st International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) from September 19 to 28, 2020. The IMO is the world championship mathematics competition for high school students. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the international scientific olympiads.  Originally planned to be held in Saint Petersburg, Russia, this year’s IMO was instead held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Andres Rico Gonzales III of De La Salle University Integrated School won a Gold Medal in the Olympics of math competitions.  It was his third and last participation in the IMO.   

This was just the fourth Gold Medal that the Philippines has won in the IMO since the country started participating in 1988.  In winning the Gold, Andres obtained the highest score among all Philippine contestants so far, and also the 4th highest among all the contestants who joined this year’s IMO.

Our other team members also won awards, with Raphael Dylan Dalida of Philippine Science High School and Bryce Ainsley Sanchez of Grace Christian College both garnering Bronze Medals, while Immanuel Josiah Balete of St. Stephen’s High School, Sarji Elijah Bona of Palawan Hope Christian School / De La Salle University Integration School, and Vincent Dela Cruz of Valenzuela City School of Mathematics and Science all bagging Honorable Mention awards.  All five of them are still eligible to represent the country in next year’s IMO.

The Team was headed by Leader Dr. Christian Paul Chan Shio of Ateneo de Manila University and Deputy Leader Mr. Carlo Francisco Adajar of University of the Philippines Diliman.   They were assisted in grading by Dr. Richard Eden of Ateneo de Manila University and Dr. Jose Ernie Lope of University of the Philippines Diliman.    The Team’s participation is a joint undertaking of the Mathematical Society of the Philippines and the Department of Science and Technology – Science Education Institute.

This year’s competition saw 616 contestants from 105 countries attempt to solve individually six challenging and original problems for a total of 9 hours spread over the two official days of competition. Each country can only send at most six contestants. Medals are then awarded to students based on the individual scores they earned from their written solutions. A non-medalist who completely solves one problem is awarded an Honorable Mention. This year, only one student was able to get the perfect score of 42.

China finished with the top team score, followed by Russia and the United States. The Philippines ranked 43rd in the company of Slovenia, Slovakia, Sweden (T40), and Portugal (44). The complete results and rankings for this year are posted in https://www.imo-official.org/year_country_r.aspx?year=2020.

The Team’s training and participation were also supported by the Team’s major sponsors – Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (HARI) Foundation and Manulife Business Processing Services.