Nineteen young Filipino students from across the country each won gold medals at the World International Mathematical Olympiad (WIMO) held last Jan. 7 to 8, in Bangkok, Thailand.
World Champions Alexandra Brianne Gochian from St. Jude Catholic School (Senior Secondary Group), Harvey James Dolar from the Philippine Science High School (Secondary 3 Group), and Mateo Inigo Espocia from Genesis Christian Academy (Primary 5) earned the top scores in their respective grade levels.
The other gold medalists include Caiser Charleton Chua So, Skyler Ioan B. Uy, Linaiah Amethyst O. Flores, Lourd Grey M. Latido, Liam Spark Peña Palarca, Lineth Mikaela B. Muldez, Agatha Maria Eden O. Nunag, Skyler Ycaruz O. Flores, Zac Andre E. De Lara, Jenelle Nyka G. Lee, Princess Abbey Cziarah A. Aquino, Arwin Peter C. Castro, Evan Justin E. Panergo, Matt Raymond Ayento, Matthew Charles C. Carpio, and Rey Stephen Chua.
The team also won 52 silver medals and 67 bronze medals.
A total of 178 delegates from kinder to senior high school represented the Philippines in the competition.
The Philippines was among the 14 countries that qualified for WIMO 2023. Other participating nations were Australia, Hongkong, Bulgaria, Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, India, Myanmar, Cambodia, Azerbaijan, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
The WIMO organizing body invited only the countries whose mathletes won gold medals in the final rounds of the Hong Kong International Mathematical Olympiad, the Thailand International Mathematical Olympiad, and the Guangdong Greater Bay Area Mathematical Olympiad.
WIMO is sponsored by the WIMO Foundation. In the Philippines, it is presented by the Math Olympiads Training League, Inc.
The WIMO competition covered test questions involving logical thinking, arithmetic, number theory, geometry, and combinatronics, which were prepared by an international experts panel.