MEDIA RELEASE — June 9, 2017

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Canadian Mathematical Society

OTTAWA, ON – The Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS) is pleased to announce that Canada’s six top math students are on their way to compete at the 58th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in Rio de Janeiro July 12 – 23, 2017.

Math Team Canada 2017 is:

• Qi Qi (Burnaby) – Age 17, Silver medalist at 2016 IMO
• Ruizhou Yang (Vancouver) – Age 18, Bronze medalist at 2016 IMO
• Thomas Guo (Markham) – Age 14, Grade 8 student, First prize 2017 Canadian Mathematical Olympiad Cup
• Ruiming (Max) Xiong (Calgary) – Age 18, Second place, 2017 Canadian Mathematical Olympiad
• Victor Rong (Toronto) – Age 15, Bronze medal Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge
• William Zhao (Toronto) – Age 15, Gold medalist at 2016 IMO

The team is led by two former Math Team Canada members. Team Leader James Rickards represented Canada at the IMO in 2011 and 2012, earning two silver medals. Deputy Leader Sarah Sun graduated from the University of Waterloo and now works at TD Bank as the Senior Manager, Data Strategy, Emerging Payments and Innovations. Matthew Stewart Brennan is the team’s Observer. Matthew was on Math Team Canada earning a Gold medal in 2012 and Bronze in 2011.

Each student competes individually to solve six questions, in a competition lasting two days, four and a half hours each day. The six students were chosen by the Canadian Mathematical Society IMO Committee, largely based on the results of the Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge (November 2016) and the Canadian Mathematical Olympiad (March 2017).

Dr. Tsimerman, Chair of the IMO Selection Committee, says "The IMO is the world’s definitive contest for high school mathematics. We have an incredibly hard-working and gifted team this year, and I am incredibly proud to have them represent Canada in the international arena!"

On Thursday June 29, 2017 the team will be presented at an IMO Send-Off at 12:30pm in the Faculty Club at the University of Toronto.

Following the Send-Off, Math Team Canada and their trainers will travel to Casa Matemática Oaxaca, Mexico for intensive training with the Mexican team before they proceed to Brazil to compete at the IMO. The Casa Matemática Oaxaca is a new Banff International Research Station (BIRS) affiliated mathematics research centre in Oaxaca Mexico. Oaxaca is a UNESCO designated World Heritage site.

About the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO)
The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is the world championship high school mathematics competition. The IMO began in 1959 in Romania with seven participating countries. Math Team Canada expects to compete against the world’s best students from over 100 countries in the 58th IMO. Canada has earned 31 gold, 49 silver and 85 bronze medals since first competing in 1981.

Canadian Math Team Sponsors
The Canadian Mathematical Society is very grateful to the following sponsors for their support of Math Team Canada 2017:
Sun Life Financial; RBC Foundation; Maplesoft; Nelson Education; Aqueduct Foundation; Samuel Beatty Fund; S. M. Blair Foundation; McLean Foundation; CAE Inc., Popular Book Company; the Banff International Research Station, Centre de recherches mathématiques; the FIELDS Institute; Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences; and the Government of Ontario, the Government of New Brunswick, the Government of Prince Edward Island; the Government of Nova Scotia; the Government of Quebec; the University of Calgary; the University of British Columbia; Dalhousie University; the Memorial University of Newfoundland; University of New Brunswick; University of Prince Edward Island; University of Saskatchewan; University of Toronto; and York University.