International Mathematical Olympiad 2025
How did the countries do, what AI did and how dirty politics played out on the Sunshine Coast, Australia
This year, the International Mathematical Olympiad was held on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, a local train ride away from where I live.
[Yes, that is a real lizard from the Australia Zoo - Home of the Crocodile Hunter - Steven Irwin. An IMO contestant is riveted by it.]
It happened with a politically charged background - far away from mathematics. I will come back to it at the end of this muse.
Last year, I wrote in another muse about being an Olympian:
Be A Math Olympian
It does not sound sexy at all. You do not get to run around a field with thousands cheering you holding your medal. But those fleeting glories pass quickly. And you are always one big injury away from obscurity for the rest of your life.
Being in the Math Olympiad is another matter. I tracked two dozen such individuals from India. Most of them are working in Google/Microsoft/Facebook earning a quarter of a million dollars a year. Others have become academics - which may not pay top dollars, but it is a cushy job with a comfortable, satisfying life - even if you do not make it big. [Trust me, I know - been there - done that.]
What is the IMO?
The International Math Olympiad began in 1959 in Romania - a global competition for high school kids. Participants are given a four-and-a-half-hour exam - each with three questions. They are hard problems. Three most celebrated IMO gold medal winners who went on to be famous mathematicians are: Terence Tao, Grigori Perelman, Maryam Mirzakhani for obvious reasons (winning/refusing the Fields Medal).
The problems are asked from four broad topics: Algebra, Combinatorics, Number Theory and Geometry. The host country seeks problem proposals from each participating country. Up to six problems can be submitted by any participating country.
Typically around 150 - 160 problems are received and around 30-35 problems are shortlisted ensuring almost equal number of problems from each of the four topics covering the entire spectrum of difficulty level.
IMO 2025
This year the six problems used in the IMO 2025 paper were from the USA, Vietnam, Colombia, Lithuania, Italy, Singapore.
Three proposals (2 in Number Theory, 1 in Geometry) from India were shortlisted which is the highest by India in a given year at the IMO. China and Iran were the two other countries with three proposals each in the IMO 2025 shortlist.
AI and IMO
This year, OpenAI's latest model solved five out of six problems on the International Math Olympiad exam. To see how big a deal that is consider what Terence Tao said.
In June, Tao predicted AI would not score high on the IMO. He suggested researchers shoot a bit lower. "There are smaller competitions. There are competitions where the answer is a number rather than a long-form proof," he said.
Yet, OpenAI did a top notch job - among the best of the best human mathematicians. The model broke new ground in general-purpose reinforcement learning.
How did the countries do?
This year, the PRC topped the USA team. But, if you read the *names* of the contestants in the Team USA, it looks like this
This is not exactly the lineup of names Mr Trump would have in mind if he would like to chant “USA, USA, USA….” He might be buoyed by the last name of the last person in the list. Hannah happens to be the daughter of mathematician Jacob Fox (born Jacob Licht - in Israel). Her mother is Asian. Hannah, like her father, is off to MIT to get a degree - Class of 2029.
[Young Hannah reading up on probabilistic methods. Yes, that *is* her.]
The IMO website gives the full list of countries ranked.
http://www.imo-official.org/year_country_r.aspx?year=2025
Mexico and Brazil appear at 31 and 32 - just below France and just above Switzerland.
Ugly politics
You will notice that Iran appears at number 12 in the list. Their participation got embroiled into international politics. You might recall that little skirmish that Israel had with Iran in June. After that, Israel started an intensive campaign to stop Iran from participating in the IMO. They got to Mr Trump to instigate a cancellation of the visas of the participants even though it was not being held in the US. The message went to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with two vicious sentences: “Australian trade deal with the USA could be jeopardized if visas are not revoked” and “Some of these bastards will grow up to build nuclear weapons”. [I got it from an email from somebody I know who works in DFAT].
It is often forgotten that for STEM subjects, Iran produces a huge proportion of graduates. In Math and Medicine, the majority are women. Maryam Mirzakhani was a testament to that. [She died young.]
Executive outcome: Australia did not roll over. Anthony Albanese, the Australian Prime Minister, decided to ignore the pressure by declaring “We decide to whom grant visas to come to *our* country”. From IKA to BNE, there were a number of flights that did not come anywhere near the US sphere of influence (stopping at DXB, for example). They were used to ensure the arrival from Tehran.
India’s performance
“India thunders in Down Under” is used in the context of cricket matches. But, India did well at the International Mathematical Olympiad too. This is the third instance of India getting the 7th rank at the IMO equalling the feats of 1998 and 2001.
The best rank India achieved so far is 4th at the 65th IMO in 2024.
This is the third time in a row India has achieved a rank in the top 10 at the IMO (India finished 9th at IMO 2023 and 4th at IMO 2024). Since 1989, the year of debut, India has been placed in the top 10 on 7 occasions out of 35 appearances (India did not participate in 2020 due to the pandemic).
Executive side observation: Betting market was actively speculating whether India will rank in the top ten.
So many valuable information tidbits that we'd never have known if Tapen hadn't put them together. As always, easy and engaging to read.