Liberal Arts Blog — Math Olympiad Winners by Country — So What? Who Cares? Who Should?

Liberal Arts Blog — Monday is the Joy of Math, Statistics, Shapes, and Numbers Day

Today’s topic — Math Olympiad Winners by Country — So What? Who Cares? Who Should?

Does the quality of math education matter? Is success at the Math Olympiad a good measure of the quality of math education in a country? If not, what is? What are the global best practices in math education? Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.

ABSOLUTE MEDAL COUNTS: not adjusted for number of appearances

1. Gold: China (168), USA (137), Russia (106), South Korea (86), Hungary (85), Romania (78), Soviet Union (77), Vietnam (65), Bulgaria (55), Germany (53)

2. Silver: Hungary (168), Romania (149), Bulgaria (123), US (117), Vietnam (111), Germany (105), South Korea (74), Soviet Union (67), Russia (62), China (36).

3. Bronze: Bulgaria (114), Romania (110), Hungary (107). Germany (83), Vietnam (78), Soviet Union (45), USA (29), South Korea (28), Russia (12), China (6).

NB: The International Math Olympiad began in 1959 and only three countries participated: Romania, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. Poland joined in 1961, the Soviet Union in 1962, Yugoslavia in 1963, East Germany in 1966, the UK in 1967, the US in 1974, China in 1985….

TOTAL NUMBER OF APPEARANCES:

1. Romania (62), Bulgaria (62), Hungary (61).

2. USA (47), Vietnam (45), Germany (44), Russia (30) Soviet Union (29)

3. China (36), Russia (30), Soviet Union (29)

THE 2019 INTERNATIONAL MATH OLYMPIAD IN BATH, UK

(see photo above for US team)

1. The US team tied China for first place.

2. US team members: Vincent Huang (a returning member from 2017 and 2018), Luke Robitaille, Colin Tang, Edward Wan, Brandon Wang and Daniel Zhu also won gold medals for their individual high scores.”

2. “The U.S. team is coached by Carnegie Mellon University Associate Professor of Mathematical Sciences Po-Shen Loh. Under Loh’s leadership, the team also placed first at the IMO in 2015, 2016 and 2018.

List of countries by medal count at International Mathematical Olympiad

International Mathematical Olympiad

Top 20 Country by International Mathematical Olympiad Gold Medal (1959–2019)

Last three years of posts organized thematically:

PDF with headlines — Google Drive

YOUR TURN

Please share the coolest thing you learned this week related to math, statistics, or numbers in general. Or, even better, the coolest or most important thing you learned in your life related to math.

This is your chance to make someone else’s day. And to consolidate in your memory something you might otherwise forget. Or to think more deeply than otherwise about something dear to your heart. Continuity is key to depth of thought.