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MEDIA RELEASE — May 16, 2016

Canadian Mathematical Society

MEDIA RELEASE
May 16, 2016

Top Canadian ‘mathletes’ earn honours in national math competition

2016 Sun Life Financial Canadian Mathematical Olympiad results announced

1st Prize: Kai Sun (AB Lucas Secondary School)
2nd Prize (Tied): Jinhao Xu (University Hill Secondary School)
2nd Prize (Tied): William Zhao (Richmond Hill High School)

OTTAWA — The top Canadian mathematical minds were revealed with the results of the 48th Sun Life Financial Canadian Mathematical Olympiad (CMO), which was held on March 30, 2016. The top three students were Kai Sun, Jinhao Xu, and William Zhao.

1st Prize and Sun Life Financial Cup: Kai Sun (AB Lucas Secondary School), London, Ont.

Kai was born in London, Ontario and has participated in the past two CMO competitions, earning an honourable mention in 2015. The grade ten student credits much of his interest in mathematics to the teachers and educators that encouraged him to participate in math programs, camps and competitions.

“I feel deeply honoured,” said Kai, when asked about how it feels to be recognized as the top Canadian mathematics student. “I have learned so much from [my fellow students], so I would like to thank them. This is a starting point for a wonderful journey in mathematics for me and it encourages me to achieve more great results in the future!”

2nd Prize (Tied): Jinhao Xu (University Hill Secondary School), Vancouver, B.C.

Jinhao has competed in the CMO for the past two years. He was a member of Math Team Canada and attended the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in 2015, earning a bronze medal for his success in the competition.

The grade 12 student has expressed interest in furthering his studies in mathematics: “I will probably [study and] work in the area of artificial intelligence after I graduate from high school.”

2nd Prize (Tied): William Zhao (Richmond Hill High School), Richmond Hill, Ont.

This was William’s first time competing in the CMO. The grade nine student from Richmond Hill noted that, “I enjoyed the CMO because there [were] interesting questions for me to solve.”

Six Canadian students received Honourable Mentions for their outstanding CMO results:

Qinyu Cui (Collège Jean de la Mennais), La Prairie, Que.;
Thomas Guo (Olympiads School), North York, Ont.;
Kevin Hu (Mulgrave School), Vancouver, B.C.;
Ben Wei (Waterloo Collegiate Institute), Waterloo, Ont.;
Yue Weng (Unionville High School), Unionville, Ont.;
Steven (Ruizhou) Yang (University Hill Secondary School), Vancouver, B.C.

“It is wonderful to see these students’ exam performance,” said Neal Madras, Chair of the CMO Committee. “They are among the best Canadian mathematics students and the Canadian Mathematical Society is proud to recognize their remarkable achievements.”

Top ranking students outside of Canada received International Honourable Mentions for their outstanding CMO results, including: Daniel Guo (Homestead High School); Caleb Ji (The Bear Creek School); Qi Qi (Phillips Exeter Academy); Kevin Sun (Phillips Exeter Academy); Nicholas Sun (Phillips Exeter Academy); and Kai Zhe Zheng (Stuart Academy).

The Sun Life Financial CMO aims to foster and recognize high achievement in mathematics and to aid in the selection of students to represent Canada in the IMO. Students selected as part of Math Team Canada 2016 will train at the Banff International Research Station (BIRS) before traveling to Hong Kong to compete in the 57th annual IMO from July 6-16, 2016.

About the Sun Life Financial Canadian Mathematical Olympiad

The Sun Life Financial Canadian Mathematical Olympiad (CMO) is Canada's premier national advanced mathematics competition for students. Candidates are invited to the CMO by the Canadian Mathematical Society based on performances in prerequisite competitions. Top participants represent Canada as part of Math Team Canada at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) each summer.

Last year, Math Team Canada 2015 placed 9th out of 104 countries. One team member, Alex Song, was the only student to achieve a perfect score on the IMO exam and was subsequently ranked as the top mathematics student in the world.

About the Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS)

Founded in 1945, the Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS) promotes the advancement, discovery, learning and application of mathematics. The CMS promotes mathematics through a rich array of activities including scientific meetings, publications, awards, prizes, grants, camps and competitions.

For more information, please contact:

Melissa Bingöl-Phillips
Special Projects Coordinator
Canadian Mathematical Society
613-733-2662 ext. 728
commsp@cms.math.ca
or Neal Madras (York University)
Chair, Canadian Mathematical Olympiad Committee
Tel: 416-736-5250
chair-cmoc@cms.math.ca