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The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is an annual mathematical olympiad for high school students. It is the oldest of the international science olympiads.
The first IMO was held in Romania in 1959. Since then it has been held every year except 1980. About 90 countries send teams of (at most) six students each (plus one team leader, one deputy leader and observers). Teams are not officially recognized - all scores are given only to individual contestants. Contestants must be under the age of 20 and must not have any post-secondary school education. Subject to these conditions, an individual may participate any number of times in the IMO.
The paper consists of six problems, with each problem being worth seven points. The total score is thus 42 points. The examination is held over two consecutive days; the contestants have four-and-a-half hours to solve three problems on each day. The problems chosen are from various areas of secondary school mathematics, broadly classifiable as geometry, number theory, algebra, and combinatorics. They require no knowledge of higher mathematics, and solutions are often short and elegant. Finding them, however, requires exceptional ingenuity and mathematical ability.
Each participating country, other than the host country, may submit suggested problems to a Problem Selection Committee provided by the host country, which reduces the submitted problems to a shortlist. The team leaders arrive at the IMO a few days in advance of the contestants and form the IMO Jury which is responsible for all the formal decisions relating to the contest, starting with selecting the six problems from the shortlist. As the leaders know the problems in advance of the contestants, they are kept strictly separated from the contestants until the second examination has finished; the contestants are accompanied to the IMO by their deputy leaders.
Each country's marks are agreed between that country's leader and deputy leader and Coordinators provided by the host country (the leader of the team whose country submitted the problem in the case of the marks of the host country), subject to the ultimate decision of the Jury if any disputes cannot otherwise be resolved. |
In the United States, the team is selected through the American Mathematics Competitions, which are open to all high school students. Final determinations for team members are based largely on the United States of America Mathematical Olympiad and an IMO-style Team Selection Test.
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Sources differ about the cities hosting some of the early IMOs. This may be partly because leaders are generally housed well away from the students, and partly because after the competition the students did not always stay based in 1 city for the rest of the IMO. The exact dates cited may also differ, because of leaders arriving before the students, and at more recent IMOs the IMO Advisory Board arriving before the leaders.
The 1st IMO was held in Braşov and Bucharest, Romania on 23-31 July, 1959.
The 2nd IMO was held in Sinaia, Romania on 18-25 July, 1960.
The 3rd IMO was held in Veszprém, Hungary on 6-16 July, 1961
The 4th IMO was held in Ceske Budejovice, Czechoslovakia on 7-15 July, 1962.
The 5th IMO was held in Warsaw and Wrocław, Poland on 5-13 July, 1963.
The 6th IMO was held in Moscow, Soviet Union on 30 June-10 July, 1964.
The 7th IMO was held in Berlin, German Democratic Republic on 3-13 July, 1965.
The 8th IMO was held in Sofia, Bulgaria on 3-13 July, 1966.
The 9th IMO was held in Cetinje, Yugoslavia on 2-13 July, 1967.
The 10th IMO was held in Moscow, USSR on 5-18 July, 1968
The 11th IMO was held in Bucharest, Romania on 5-20 July, 1969.
The 12th IMO was held in Keszthely, Hungary on 8-22 July, 1970.
The 13th IMO was held in Zilina, Czechoslovakia on 10-21 July, 1971.
The 14th IMO was held in Toruń, Poland on 5-17 July, 1972.
The 15th IMO was held in Moscow, Soviet Union on 5-16 July, 1973.
The 16th IMO was held in Erfurt and East Berlin, German Democratic Republic on 4-17 July, 1974.
The 17th IMO was held in Burgas and Sofia, Bulgaria in 1975.
The 18th IMO was held in Lienz, Austria in 1976.
The 19th IMO was held in Belgrade, Yugoslavia on 1-13 July, 1977.
The 20th IMO was held in Bucharest, Romania in 1978.
The 21st IMO was held in London, United Kingdom in 1979. |
The 22nd IMO was held in Washington, DC, United States on 8-20 July, 1981.
The 23rd IMO was held in Budapest, Hungary on 5-14 July, 1982..
The 24th IMO was held in Paris, France on 1-12 July, 1983. The 25th IMO was held in Prague, Czechoslovakia on 29 June-10 July, 1984.
The 26th IMO was held in Joutsa, Finland on 29 June-11 July, 1985.
The 27th IMO was held in Warsaw, Poland on 4-15 July, 1986.
The 28th IMO was held in Havana, Cuba on 5-16 July, 1987.
The 29th IMO was held in Sydney and Canberra, Australia on 9-21 July, 1988.
The 30th IMO was held in Brunswick, Federal Republic of Germany on 13-24 July, 1989.
The 31st IMO was held in Beijing, People's Republic of China on 8-19 July, 1990.
The 32nd IMO was held in Sigtuna, Sweden on 12-23 July, 1991.
The 33rd IMO was held in Moscow, Russia on 10-21 July, 1992.
The 34th IMO was held in Istanbul, Turkey on 13-24 July, 1993.
The 35th IMO was held in Hong Kong on 8-20 July, 1994.
The 36th IMO was held in Toronto, Canada on 13-25 July, 1995.
The 37th IMO was held in Mumbai, India on 5-17 July, 1996.
The 38th IMO was held in Mar del Plata, Argentina on 18-31 July, 1997.
The 39th IMO was held in Taipei, Republic of China on 10-21 July, 1998.
The 40th IMO was held in Bucharest, Romania on 10-22 July, 1999.
The 41st IMO was held in Taejon, South Korea on 13-25 July, 2000.
The 42nd IMO was held in Washington, DC, United States on 1-14 July, 2001.
The 43rd IMO was held in Glasgow, United Kingdom on 19-30 July, 2002.
The 44th IMO was held in Tokyo, Japan on 7-19 July, 2003.
The 45th IMO was held in Athens, Greece on 6-18 July, 2004.
The 46th IMO was held in Mérida, Mexico on 8-19 July, 2005.
The 47th IMO was held in Ljubljana, Slovenia on 6-18 July, 200
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Results by points for the 2006 IMO
1. People's Republic of China (214)
2. Russian Federation (174)
3. Korea (170)
4. Germany (157)
5. United States of America (154)
6. Romania (152)
7. Japan (146)
8. Iran (145)
9. Moldova (140)
10. Taiwan (136)
11. Poland (133)
12. Italy (132)
13. Vietnam (131)
14. Hong Kong (129)
15. Canada (123)
Results by Medals for the 2006 IMO
1. People's Republic of China | (six gold)
2. Korea | (four gold, two silver)
3. Germany | (four gold, two bronze)
4. Russia | (three gold, three silver)
5. Romania, Iran | (three gold, one silver, two bronze)
6. United States of America | (two gold, four silver)
7. Japan | (two gold, three silver, one bronze)
8. Italy | (two gold, two silver, one honorable mention)
9. Moldova, Vietnam | (two gold, one silver, three bronze)
10. Taiwan | (one gold, four silver, one bronze)
11. Hong Kong | (one gold, three silver, two bronze)
12. Thailand, Slovakia (one gold, two silver, three bronze)
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Ciprian Manolescu from Romania managed to write a perfect paper (42/42) three times.
Reid Barton (USA) was the first participant to obtain a gold medal four times (1998-1999-2000-2001). Christian Reiher (Germany) is the only other participant to have won four gold medals (2000-2001-2002-2003); Reiher also obtained a bronze medal in 1999.
In 1994, all six members of the USA team wrote a perfect paper. This accomplishment was noted in TIME Magazine.
Terence Tao from Australia got a gold medal at the age of thirteen in 1988, being the youngest person to have a gold medal. |
