International Mathematical Olympia is the pinnacle of competition between students of pre-University level from around the world
Gold Coast student, Kaimyn Chapman, who is 17 and in Year 12 at All Saints Anglican Senior School in Merrimac, achieved the highest score of the Australian team and brought home a Silver Medal from the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), part of the annual UNESCO-sanctioned International Science Olympiads. It was held in Mar del Plata, Argentina, where 548 students from 100 countries competed from 4 to 16 July.
Kaimyn, who lives at Pacific Pines, was one of the six-member student team that won two of the 88 Silver Medals awarded globally and four of the 138 Bronze Medals. The team tied with Hong Kong and was placed equal 27th of 100 countries. They were presented with their medals at the Closing Ceremony. This year's exam was more difficult than in recent years and the ranking of many countries moved both up and down. South Korea was the winner for the first time. Germany and Italy, both ahead of Australia in recent years, are now ranked below.
Kaimyn has always been interested in mathematics, but as the years progress, this interest is gradually intensifying. In the short term, Kaimyn aims to go to university and potentially study Pure Mathematics. Kaimyn’s main hobbies outside mathematics are programming, debating, chess and sleeping. Kaimyn follows in the footsteps of a former All Saints student, Ildar Gaisin, who was a medallist at the 2007 IMO in Hanoi, Vietnam and is now studying at Cambridge University.
The IMO is the pinnacle of competition between students of pre-University level from around the world and the premier international competition in mathematics for secondary school students globally. It first began in 1959 and is the oldest and largest of the Olympiads. Australia has entered for the past 31 years.
The training and selection for the Mathematics and Informatics Olympiad Programs is run by the not-for-profit Australian Mathematics Trust, under the Trusteeship of the University of Canberra. It aims to challenge and encourage Australians in the understanding of mathematics and informatics to realise their intellectual potential and to deliver world class Australian Olympiad programs.
Professor Peter Taylor, the Australian Mathematics Trust’s Executive Director, said, “Kaimyn should be acclaimed for his success up against some of the world’s best. He is an excellent role model who will most likely undertake a science and technology-based career on which our future depends”.
Professor Taylor added that this event is just part of a larger program run by the Trust which hundreds of thousands of students participate in and benefit from, starting at the Australian Mathematics Competition and continuing through the Mathematics Challenge for Young Australians and its enrichment stage, helping students of all standards to achieve their potential in mathematics.
Professor Taylor also acknowledged considerable support from the Australian Government through its Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education (DIISRTE) and Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) and also significant support from the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers and the Australian Mathematical Society.