The countdown to this year’s IMO (International Mathematical Olympiad) began in Auckland. The team of six contestants as well as their leader, deputy and observer congregated in Grafton Hall for three days worth of training prior to departure from Auckland. Read more »
The 51st International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), held in Kazakhstan, was a fantastic event all round. Enormous thanks are offered to our generous sponsors, in particular the Royal Society of New Zealand, whose continued support has been hugely valuable.
The venue of Kazakhstan offered a particular interest for all of us, and we found it to be (mostly) agreeable and intriguingly exotic. In the competition itself, the New Zealand team put up its best ever performance, gaining two silvers and four bronzes. Outside of the exam room, the atmosphere surrounding the Olympiad was as friendly and exuberant as ever. At no other event in the world do so many like-minded budding mathematicians meet, and so the conversation often and shamelessly turns to maths, and camaraderie abounds….. although this year there was some rivalry between nations brought on by the FIFA world cup. The Dutch are our training partners for the Olympiad, and so out of loyalty we ended up supporting them, to the disgust of the Hispanic nations. But I had better begin my account in the proper place, so here we go…
In July this year I was fortunate enough to have the amazing experience of representing New Zealand at the 51st International Mathematical Olympiad, which was held in Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan.
For me, the journey had begun 18 months earlier, when I attended my first January camp. There, I was exposed to the fascinating world of Olympiad mathematics, as a competition which is hugely popular worldwide and remarkably different from that encountered in high school. Read more »
It had been nearly a year and a half since I set foot into the world of Olympiad mathematics. Eighteen months had passed since I first attended the lectures at the January Training Camp and here I was, representing New Zealand at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO).
1. Arriving in Auckland
My journey started when I went to Auckland on 2nd/July/2008. I was so excited and very sure I would enjoy this trip. Everything went fine along the first flight from Christchurch to Auckland. I met Heather (our deputy leader) at the bus stop and settled in Grafton Resident Hall (part of Auckland University), room 605, which besides one of my friend Ronald. This room had a very nice view of the outside: I could see the top of One Tree Hill Domain on the right, and some distance old trees in the centre. On the left, there were some buildings which unfortunately blocked my view of the sea.
In July this year, I had the amazing experience of travelling with the New Zealand Mathematics Olympiad Team to Madrid, Spain, to compete in the International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO) with 98 other countries in what was the 49th annual event of that competition. We left New Zealand on the 6th of July from Auckland Airport, having had several days of training immediately beforehand at the Mathematics Department of Auckland University.