MEDIA RELEASE — June 20, 2019

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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 60^th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in Bath, United Kingdom, July 15-22, 2019.

Math Team Canada is:

• Thomas Guo - [Markham]: 1^st Place (tied) 2019 Canadian Mathematical Olympiad (CMO) - International Division; Best in Canada (Grade 10) 2018 Canadian Open Mathematical Challenge (COMC)
  
• Howard Halim - [Toronto]: 3^rd Place 2019 CMO; Bronze Award 2018 COMC
  
• Sebastian Jeon – [New Jersey]: 1^st Place (tied) 2019 CMO - International Division; Best in Canada (Grade 11) Bronze Award 2018 COMC
• Victor Rong - [Toronto]: 2^nd Place 2019 CMO; Silver Award 2018 COMC
• David Tang – [Toronto]: Honour Roll (Grade 11) Canadian Division 2018 COMC
• William Zhao - [Richmond Hill]: 1^st Place 2019 CMO; 3^rd Place 2018 CMO

The team will be led by two former Math Team Canada members, James Rickards (McGill) and Matthew Stewart Brennan (MIT). Rickards represented Canada at the IMO in 2011 and 2012, earning two silver medals. He was the leader of Math Team Canada in 2017 and 2018. Brennan was a Math Team Canada member earning a Gold medal in 2012 and Bronze in 2011. Sarah Sun (GoldSpot Discoveries Inc.) is the team’s Deputy Leader. Sun served as the Deputy Leader for Math Team Canada 2017 in Rio de Janeiro and the Deputy Leader of the Girls Math Team Canada in 2018 and 2019.

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, based on the results of the Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge (November 2018), the Canadian Mathematical Olympiad (March 2019) and other national and international mathematics competitions.

Two-time IMO Gold medal winner and the chair of the CMS IMO Committee Dr. Jacob Tsimerman (Toronto) is extremely proud of the 2019 team. "These six students have dedicated so much of their time and energy to mathematics, and it has really paid off. We are all incredibly proud of what they've already accomplished, and can't what to see what they will still achieve when they represent Canada at the 2019 IMO."

The 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 60^th IMO. Canada has earned 32 gold, 56 silver, 88 bronze medals and 19 honorable mentions 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 2019:
The Casualty Actuarial Foundation; the Society of Actuaries; University of Waterloo; NSERC PromoScience; the McLean Foundation; the S. M. Blair Foundation; the Samuel Beatty Fund; the Aqueduct Foundation; Centre de recherches mathématiques; the FIELDS Institute; the Government of Alberta; the Government of Manitoba; the Government of New Brunswick; the Government of Nova Scotia; the Government of Nunavut; the Government of Prince Edward Island; the Government of Ontario; the University of Toronto; York University as well as individual donations from members and non-members of CMS.

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