Bulgarian Mathematics team wins 6 gold medals at International Olympiad held in Japan.

Canada wins 2 gold and 3 bronze medals.

Bulgarian high-school students win first place at the prestigious International Mathematics Olympiad.

Such Olympiads have been taking place annually since 1959 hosted each time by a different country. This years 44 Olympiad was held in Tokyo from July 12 to July 18, 2003. A record number of 457 participants divided in 82 teams of up to 6 members represented 86 countries. In each o­ne of two consecutive days they had four and a half hours to solve three difficult problems. Depending o­n their score the best participants were awarded gold, silver or bronze medals. The data about scores and medal distribution for all teams can be seen following the “News” link at www.imojp.org (please click o­n the English version link if unreadable Japanese text pops up).

The o­nly team with 6 gold medals from 6 participants was Bulgaria (total score 227) followed by China (5 gold and 1 silver medal, total score 211) and the USA (4 gold and 2 silver medals, total score 188). The Canadian team took 2 gold and 3 bronze medals (total score 119).

Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan addressed the closing ceremony and wished the participants to apply their abilities towards global prosperity.

The Japanese media closely followed the event. For a photograph of participants registering before the opening ceremony go to the leading Asahi newspaper website (www.asahi.com/english) at www.asahi.com/edu/images/TKY200307120160.jpg

Ivan Ganachev, who is living and working in Japan, sent us this exciting news from the Japanese media.