MEDIA RELEASE — June 6, 2018

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Canadian Mathematical Society

OTTAWA, Ontario — The Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS) is pleased to announce that Canada’s six top math students are on their way to compete at the 59th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in Romania, July 3 – 14, 2018.

Math Team Canada is:

• Thomas Guo - [Markham]:Grade 9 student, First prize (International) 2017 COMC
  
• Howard Halim - [Toronto]:2nd Place 2018 CMO; Honour Roll 2017 COMC
  
• Victor Rong - [Toronto]:1st Place and Winner of CMO Cup; Silver medal COMC
• Nicholas Sun - [New Brunswick, NJ]:Top Competitor – International Division, 2018 CMO
• William Zhao - [Toronto]:3rd Place 2018 CMO; Honour Roll 2017 COMC
• Zixiang Zhou - [London]:Honourable Mention 2018 CMO

The team is led by two former Math Team Canada members. James Rickards represented Canada at the IMO in 2011 and 2012, earning two silver medals. Rickards was the leader of Math Team Canada in 2017. Deputy Leader Calvin Deng is also an IMO team alum who competed in 2012 and 2013 earning two gold medals. Vincent Chan, is the team’s Observer. Vincent double majored in Pure Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at the University of Waterloo, continuing there to pursue his master's degree. He completed his PhD in Mathematics at UBC in 2014 before returning to his hometown, and the University of Calgary, where he is a teacher.

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 2017) and the Canadian Mathematical Olympiad (March 2018).

Two-time IMO Gold medal winner and IMO Selection Committee Chair Dr. Jacob Tsimerman is extremely proud of the 2018 team "the IMO is the pinnacle of competitions for high school mathematics. Our talented team has spent countless hours training and refining their skills, and I am immensely proud and excited to have them represent Canada in the international arena!"

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 59th 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 2018:
Casualty Actuarial Foundation; The Society of Acturaries, RBC Foundation; Maplesoft; Nelson Education; Aqueduct Foundation; Samuel Beatty Fund; S. M. Blair Foundation; McLean Foundation; CAE Inc., 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; the University of New Brunswick; the University of Prince Edward Island; the University of Saskatchewan; the University of Toronto; and York University.

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 on Math Team Canada, please contact