By Jonathan Hicap
The Philippines won six medals at the 60th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in Bath, United Kingdom.
The Philippines’ 2019 IMO medalists (from left) Immanuel Josiah Balete, Andres Rico Gonzales III, Vincent Dela Cruz, Bryce Ainsley Sanchez, Sean Anderson Ty and Dion Stephan Ong at the awarding ceremony in the UK. (Photo courtesy of Russelle Guadalupe)
All the country’s six contestants bagged awards at the competition participated in by 621 students from 112 countries and held from July 11 to 22.
Sean Anderson Ty of Zamboanga Chong Hua High School grabbed a silver medal, the highest award for the Philippines this year.
This is Ty’s third consecutive IMO win and his last math contest in high school. He won a bronze medal in 2017 and an honorable mention in 2018.
“A silver came as a pleasant surprise! It’s definitely nice for this to happen right before I start my college life. I’m very happy to have won a silver,” Ty told Manila Bulletin.
He is set to take up applied mathematics this year at the prestigious Harvard University in the US. A total of 1,950 students from the US and 89 other countries were admitted to Harvard College this year as members of Class of 2023, according to The Harvard Gazette.
Winning bronze medals at IMO are Immanuel Josiah Balete of St. Stephen's High School, Vincent Dela Cruz of Valenzuela City School of Mathematics and Science, Andres Rico Gonzales III of De La Salle University Integrated School, Dion Stephan Ong of Ateneo de Manila Senior High School and Bryce Ainsley Sanchez of Grace Christian College.
Accompanying the students in the UK are team leader Dr Richard Eden, deputy team leader Dr. Christian Chan Shio and trainer Russelle Guadalupe, all members of the Mathematical Society of the Philippines (MSP).
Each year, contestants to the IMO are selected through the Philippine Mathematical Olympiad conducted by the MSP.
The six students also represented the Philippines and won in different math contests under the tutelage of the Mathematics Trainers Guild-Philippines (MTG).
This year’s IMO was topped by the US and China whose contestants all won gold medals. South Korea placed third followed by North Korea, Thailand, Russia, Vietnam, Singapore, Serbia, and Poland. The Philippines ranked 31st this year, up from the 38th place in 2018.
Next year’s IMO will be held in Russia.