July 22, 2019 at 11:12

local

BATH, ENGLAND The Dutch team won five medals this week at the International Mathematical Olympiad in Bath in England. Matthijs van der Poel (18) from IJsselstein won the silver medal for the third year in a row. Jesse Fitié, Richard Wols, Jovan Gerbscheid and Jippe Hoogeveen all won bronze medals. The sixth member of the Dutch team, Szabi Buzogány, received an honorable mention because he solved one of the six competition questions perfectly.

The International Mathematical Olympiad took place in Bath, England, from 14 to 21 July. The students were given six high level mathematics questions spread over two days of competition. On each day of the competition they were given four and a half hours to do it and they were able to get seven points for each question. The results of each student are as follows:

· 28 points – SILVER: Matthijs van der Poel (18 years, IJsselstein, 6 pre-university education, Christian Gymnasium Utrecht)

· 21 points – BRONZE: Jesse Fitié (17 years, Rijswijk, 5 pre-university studies, Maerlant-Lyceum The Hague)

· 21 points – BRONZE: Richard Wols (16 years, Ruinen, 6 pre-university education, CSG Dingstede Meppel)

· 19 points – BRONZE: Jovan Gerbscheid (16 years, Amsterdam, 5 pre-university studies, St. Ignatiusgymnasium Amsterdam)

· 18 points – BRONZE: Jippe Hoogeveen (16 years, Odijk, 5 pre-university education, Openbaar Lyceum Zeist)

· 10 points – Honorable mention: Szabi Buzogány (19 years, Hooglanderveen, 6 pre-university education, Corderius College Amersfoort)

At the International Mathematical Olympiad, medals are awarded to a maximum of half of the participants. Of the 621 participants, the 52 best participants received gold medals, the 94 best participants received silver medals, and the next 156 participants received bronze medals. In the country ranking, the Netherlands together with Hong Kong are ranked 37th out of 112 countries. The ranking of countries is led by the teams of the United States and China, who scored exactly the same number of points.

Matthijs, Jovan and Jippe have previously won prizes at the largest international mathematics competition for students. Matthijs has won the silver medal twice: last year in Romania and the year before that in Brazil. In Romania, Jovan and Jippe won bronze last year. Szabi was also part of the team at the time and, just like this year, deserves honorable mention.

The Dutch team was guided by Birgit van Dalen (Leiden University and ISW Hoogeland Naaldwijk), Quintijn Puite (Eindhoven University of Technology and Alberdingk Thijm College Hilversum) and Jeroen Huijben (University of Amsterdam). The Mathematics Olympiad is held in collaboration with Eindhoven University of Technology, Leiden University, Transtrend, ORTEC and Rabobank and organized by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, ABN AMRO, ASML, Central Bureau of Statistics, Compositio, De Nederlandsche Bank, HP, Noordhoff Uitgevers, Cito , Freudenthal Institute, Dutch Association of Mathematics Teachers and De Rosep Estate.