Talented Australian students from around the nation have just scored big in mathematics and computer coding on the international stage, with a combined total of 10 medals at the recent International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) and European Girls’ Olympiad in Informatics (EGOI).
“There can be no doubt Australian students are shining bright in the world of mathematics and computer coding,” said Mike Clapper, CEO of the Australian Maths Trust (AMT).
“In a time where the use of AI is becoming ever more prevalent, we have the future coders and mathematical minds needed to create and guide these developments right here in our own country, and these students are really showcasing their skills by winning major medals on the world stage.” Mr Clapper continued.
This month’s big wins kicked off with the 66th IMO, held on the Sunshine Coast of Queenland from 10-20 July. 630 students from 111 countries competed in nine hours of exams over two days, and the Australian team did remarkably well. The Australian team of six students won two gold medals, two silver medals and two bronze medals.
“The Australian IMO team’s results placed Australia 15th overall out of the 111 competing countries. The International Maths Olympiad is the primary forum for discovering highly talented mathematicians from around the world. The mathematicians who compete here and perform well have booked themselves a ticket to almost any university in the world,” said Mr Clapper.
“We have gold medallists from Australia who have stayed in Australia, but many others who have gone to Cambridge and Princeton, or many other universities all around the world,” Mr Clapper continued.
The significance of competing at the IMO was highlighted by Guest Lecturer, Terence Tao, from UCLA. Terence was born in Adelaide and won gold at the IMO for Australia in 1988 and is now recognised as possibly the brightest living mathematician in the world.
“With AI now involved in solving the IMO questions it will mean that the questions will become more and more difficult at future IMO’s. It is the same in all sport, as you become more professional, world records get higher and the requirements to qualify are higher. That is the nature of competition,” said Terence Tao.
“The Australian team are all bright and enthusiastic with an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of previous IMO questions. The training is very advanced compared to when I competed at the age of 11 in 1986,” Professor Tao continued.
The medals indeed kept coming this month as the European Girls’ Olympiad in Informatics (EGOI) took place in Bonn, Germany from 14 – 20 July. EGOI is an international competition for young women interested in Computer Science. It is similar in style to the International Olympiad in Informatics and is held annually by a different country each year.
“We are thrilled to announce that the Australian team of four female students who competed at EGOI in Germany won one gold medal, one silver medal and two bronze medals. This is only the second ever time that an Australian team has taken part at EGOI and our girls are really kicking goals,” Mr Clapper said.
All four team members have ranked in the top 80 of 226 students with Gold Medallist, Christina Chen ranking a very impressive 4th.
“The Australian Maths Trust congratulates the students who competed in both mathematics and computer coding. Every single problem the world faces now, be it climate change, technology or artificial intelligence, they are all fundamentally based on mathematics so good mathematicians can find a niche somewhere in the future of the planet,” Mr Clapper continued.
Hosting IMO 2025 in Australia was made possible by AMT’s Principal Sponsor XTX Markets, a leading algorithmic trading firm, and proud donor to maths education globally, along with other sponsors including the Sunshine Coast Council and Visit Sunshine Coast.
Sending IMO and EGOI teams to compete in international Olympiads is supported by the Trust’s National Sponsor of the Australian Informatics and Mathematical Olympiad Programs, Optiver, strategic higher education partner University of New South Wales, and the Australian Government Department of Industry, Science and Resources.
Media contacts:
For more information, images or to arrange an interview, please contact:
1. Gabi Reid, AMT Communications Manager, 0439 582 720 or gabi.reid@amt.edu.au
2. Lauren Griffiths, Threesides Marketing, 0417 409 264 or lauren.griffiths@threesides.com.au
INTERVIEW/PHOTO/VIDEO OPPORTUNITIES
Select members of the Australian IMO and EGOI teams will be available for interviews and photo opportunities. Please make your request and we will do our best to facilitate. Mike Clapper, CEO of the Australian Maths Trust is also available for comment.
MEDIA BACKGROUNDER
QUICK FACTS ON INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD
- IMO is the International Mathematics Olympiad
- IMO is the largest of all the scientific Olympiads. This prestigious competition was first held in Romania in 1959 where 7 countries participated.
- The AMT hosted IMO on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, from 10-20 July 2025.
- The official competition exams ran from Tuesday 15th July – Wednesday 16th July, and were held at the Sunshine Coast Convention Centre at Novotel Twin Waters.
- The competition included 9 hours of exam time for students across 2 days.
- IMO 2025 was the second time Australia has hosted the prestigious event, the first being Canberra in 1988.
- The IMO Australian team consisted of the following team members:
William Cheah – GOLD MEDALLIST
Scotch College, VIC
Will appreciates the endless array of new and exciting ideas that maths provides for exploration and advises that always remembering to have fun in the process is the best way to improve.
He plans to apply the mathematical problem-solving skills he has acquired from Olympiad mathematics to impactful real-world research.
Outside maths, Will enjoys informatics, playing piano and violin, swimming, fencing, chess and badminton at a competitive level.
Jayden Pan – GOLD MEDALLIST
Shore School, NSW
Jayden enjoys the long process of problem-solving and the joy that comes from finally cracking a tough problem.
He is an avid debater and public speaker and is passionate about social issues and the connection between maths and his other interests, such as his faith, soccer, skiing, and playing violin.
Outside of maths, he enjoys debating, public speaking, soccer, and skiing.
Xiangyue Nan – SILVER MEDALLIST
Fintona Girls’ School
Xiangyue is fascinated by the endless opportunities available in mathematics. She feels that, with no areas fully solved and many different fields and niches to study, that there will always be so many new things to learn and discover.
Outside of maths, Xiangyue enjoys badminton, origami, and card and board games.
After winning Gold at IMO 2024, and this being her second and final IMO before graduating.
William Liu – SILVER MEDALLIST
The King’s School, NSW
Will enjoys the creative challenge of solving complex combinatorial problems. His passion began through the Mathematical Problem- Solving program, where he discovered the beauty of proofs and ideas like the infinite pigeonhole principle.
Outside of maths, Will enjoys running, reading, and playing board games. He plans to study math and computer science at university.
Justin Tran – BRONZE MEDALLIST
Sydney Grammar School, NSW
Justin has great appreciation for the abstract reasoning and problem-solving elements of mathematics. He is fascinated by the abstract beauty of maths and sees maths as a bridge between intuition and intellect.
He encourages others to grow and enrich their curiosity and sense of wonder through all avenues available to them, whether it be teachers, friends, contests, or other forums.
Outside of maths, Justin enjoys rock climbing, cinema, origami, piano, and 3D graphics.
Zihui Zhang – BRONZE MEDAL WINNER
Clayfield College, QLD
Zihui is passionate about the quiet, personal challenge that mathematics provides. Her love for maths began with a simple logic puzzle from her dad, sparking a lifelong curiosity.
Zihui’s best advice is to believe in yourself, and with this mindset, she hopes to contribute meaningfully to the advancement of mathematics in the future.
Outside of maths, Zihui enjoys origami and learning new languages.
QUICK FACTS ON EUROPEAN GIRLS’ OLYMPIAD IN INFORMATICS
- European Girls’ Olympiad in Informatics (EGOI) took place in Bonn, Germany from 14 – 20 July.
- EGOI is an international competition for young women interested in Computer Science.
- EGOI similar in style to the International Olympiad in Informatics, and is held annually by a different country each year.
- The EGOI Australian team consisted of the following team members:
GOLD MEDALLIST – ranked 4 of 226 contestants
Christina Chen
Year 12, Korowa Anglican Girls’ School, VIC
Christina won bronze at last year’s EGOI competition and has plans to pursue further education in computer science or mathematics in the future. She realised that informatics is something that she really enjoys doing for many hours a day at her first AMT informatics camp because of the process of solving problems and the way that problems slowly make sense piece by piece as you think more about them.
SILVER MEDALLIST – ranked 24 of 226 contestants
Alexa Wu
Year 9, Pymble Ladies’ College, NSW
Alexa won an individual bronze medal in 2024 as part of the first Australian team to compete at EGOI. She enjoys the adrenaline of competition and the satisfaction of solving difficult puzzles. Alexa recalls her first AMT informatics camp as the time that she really discovered the many interesting problems, techniques and people involved in informatics and how it gave her the confidence to keep working at it.
BRONZE MEDALLIST – ranked 74 of 226 contestants
Ayana Fridkin
Year 10, Caulfield Grammer School, VIC
Ayana won a bronze medal at EGOI last year. She likes being able to solve problems with technology and says, ‘coding feels like speaking a different language.’ Ayana pursues many other interests such as piano, drums, singing, theatre club, cycling and soccer and first started to become invested in informatics in year 6 when she attended the AMT School of Excellence for coding, where manipulating complex ideas to solve problems sparked her interest. Her advice to other girls interested in informatics is to “be persistent. If it feels like you aren’t making any progress, keep going, because everyone hits a wall sometimes and even if you aren’t going forward, you’re climbing up the wall. Ignore gender barriers, seriously! Pursue what you like, nobody gets to tell you what you can and can’t spend your effort on.”
BRONZE MEDALLIST – ranked 80 of 226 contestants
Jenny He
Year 10, Pymble Ladies’ College, NSW
Jenny has always enjoyed the thrill and challenge of problem-solving. What excites her most in informatics is the satisfaction of finally arriving at a solution. Her advice to other informatics students is “keep going and never give up. Practise consistently, and don’t be afraid of a challenge.”
About Professor Terence Tao, Professor of Mathematics
Terence Tao was born in Adelaide, Australia in 1975. He has been a Professor of Mathematics at UCLA since 1999, having completed his PhD under Elias Stein at Princeton in 1996. Tao’s areas of research include harmonic analysis, PDE, combinatorics, and number theory. He has received a number of awards, including the Salem Prize in 2000, the Fields Medal in 2006, the MacArthur Fellowship in 2007, the Crafoord prize in 2012, and the Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics in 2015. Terence Tao also holds the James and Carol Collins chair in mathematics at UCLA, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Australian Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. From 2020-2024, he served on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
About Australian Maths Trust (AMT)
AMT’s vision is to develop a nation of creative problem solvers, and they believe maths is the most effective way to get students there. The AMT’s competitions and programs provide an opportunity for young Australians to challenge and extend their creative problem-solving skills and prepare them for a future of real-world problems. More information on the Trust can be found at www.amt.edu.au