imo 2014 (1 Viewer)

[tywebb]

The International Mathematical Olympiad will be held in Cape Town, South Africa this year from July 3-13 (contests on July 8 and 9).

Website: http://www.imo2014.org.za/

Here is the Australian Team:

Alexander Gunning, Year 11, Glen Waverley Secondary College, VIC
Seyoon Ragavan, Year 10, Knox Grammar School, NSW
Mel Shu, Year 12, Melbourne Grammar School, VIC
Yang Song, Year 11, James Ruse Agricultural High School, NSW
Praveen Wijerathna, Year 12, James Ruse Agricultural High School, NSW
Damon Zhong, Year 12, Shore School, NSW

Photo:

(Damon Zhong, Praveen Wijerathna, Yang Song, Mr Greg Taylor AO, Mr Adam Spencer, Dr Dennis Jensen MP, Adjunct Professor Mike Clapper, Mel Shu, Seyoon Ragavan, Alexander Gunning and Dr Angelo Di Pasquale)

 

[tywebb]

Here are the questions:

http://4unitmaths.com/imo2014.pdf

 

[tywebb]

Results

An Australian (Alexander Gunning) is one of only 3 out of 560 contestants to get a perfect score in the 55th International Mathematical Olympiad held a few days ago. It is the first time ever that an Australian has got a perfect score! Results are out today.

People's Republic of China had overall country rank 1 with 5 gold medals and 1 silver medal, (which USA also got), but total points were 201 (and USA got 193 and country rank 2).

There were 3 perfect scorers, one of whom was from Australia! (individually ranked equal 1st out of 560):

Alexander Gunning (Australia), Jijang Gao (People's Republic of China), Po-Sheng Wu (Taiwan)

Medal cutoffs: Gold=29, Silver=22, Bronze=16

Results for Australian Team: rank=11 out of 101, total=156 out of 252:

Alexander Gunning: 7+7+7+7+7+7=42=Gold Medal (and perfect score!) (rank=1)
Seyoon Ragavan: 7+2+0+7+1+0=17=Bronze Medal (rank=256)
Mel Shu: 7+7+0+7+2+0=23=Silver Medal (rank=109)
Yang Song: 7+3+0+7+3+0=20=Bronze Medal (rank=200)
Praveen Wilerathna: 7+7+0+7+7+0=28=Silver Medal (rank=50)
Damon Zhong: 7+5+0+7+7+0=26=Silver Medal (rank=83)

 

[obliviousninja]

Fuarrrk Gunning with da goodz

 

[GoldyOrNugget]

The stupendous brilliance of Alex's achievement can't be understated. This means he's one of the best mathematicians in the world in the under-20s age range. My claim to fame from here onwards is that I once played cards with him.

And HE'S IN YEAR 11 WTF. HE STILL HAS ONE MORE YEAR

 

[Kiraken]

congratz to the team (and gunning in particular), it's a truly fantastic achievement to even be on the world stage for this and to have done so well on top of that!

 

[tywebb]

Coming back to his HSC studies must be like Ricky Ponting retiring to play backyard cricket with his girls.

But he won't be doing the HSC. He's from Victoria.

 

[trapizi]

They don't have an HSC?

They have VCE instead

 

[tywebb]

Same thing, different name.

The HSC and the VCE are actually quite different things.

 

[tywebb]

There is an article in the age now about it.

By any calculation Melbourne kid Alex Gunning was No. 1 at world maths Olympiad

Konrad Marshall

The Age, 17 July 2014

When you calculate the maths of the challenge confronting him last week, the odds of Alex Gunning finishing on top were almost unfathomable.

The International Mathematical Olympiad annually invites contestants from more than 100 countries to compete in a gruelling two-day test of problem-solving skill.

The battle just to enter the competition is fierce enough, with thousands vying for a place in the world's peak maths contest.

In the end, more than 500 highly trained, tuned and talented young "mathletes" descended on Cape Town for the battle royale.

But it was Alex Gunning who prevailed, the 17-year-old year 11 student from sleepy Glen Waverley winning his second consecutive gold medal.

Not only that, Alex also finished with 42 out of 42 – a perfect seven on all six questions – something never before achieved by an Australian.

Only two other students managed that feat this year – one from China and the other from Taiwan – and they shared the first-place podium with Alex.

"I was obviously quite pleased with the result," Alex said. "I knew a perfect score was a goal worth aiming for, but it didn't know I could do that."

Others did, such as his mother Hannah Cooper and his father Dr James Gunning, a CSIRO mathematician and geophysicist. Alex's four sisters probably had an idea, too.

And of course his teacher Donna Callow, the head of maths at Glen Waverley Secondary College, who identified his prodigious talent back in primary school.

"Alex just has amazing insight into problems," Callow said. "He is so creative and can just see these wonderful connections between different branches of maths."

The wunderkind himself is not sure where his ability comes from, but a big part is the hundreds of hours he spends working on problems, or just pondering them.

Alex walks to school most days and finds his mind drifting to maths as he ambles along, planning solutions and considering new approaches.

"I like to think things through in my head for a while," he said. "I don't directly attack the problem – I ask what results I can get through this or that configuration of points."

In many ways the annual Olympiad is one of the only places where Alex can meet an array of like-minded individuals.
Australia finished 11th overall, just one mark outside the top 10. China, Russia, Ukraine, Canada and the US occupied the top five.

As for the future, Alex likes the idea of studying pure or applied maths at university, in Australia or abroad. But first there is next year's Olympiad to consider.

"I'm hoping next year is harder, you know, for the questions to be more challenging," he said, smiling. "The questions weren't easy as such, but they were manageable."

http://www.theage.com.au/national/e...1-at-world-maths-olympiad-20140717-zu31r.html

 

[GoldyOrNugget]

"I'm hoping next year is harder, you know, for the questions to be more challenging," he said, smiling. "The questions weren't easy as such, but they were manageable."

lol

 

[tywebb]

Here is a youtube video of Alex Gunning talking about it:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/9ZIZumhAiss" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZIZumhAiss

Note there is a mistake in the video. The woman at the start says he is in year 12. He isn't. He is in year 11. The mistake is repeated in the caption.

 

[RealiseNothing]

lol

I lol'd so hard at this too.

"yer it would be nice if the questions were you know, actually a challenge next year"

 

[Find the exact form]

It's true that the biggest weakness for a mathematician is ENGLISH.