The first gold medal for Slovenia on the 61st International Mathematical Olympiad

Slovenia has achieved historic success at the 61st International Mathematical Olympiad. Luka Horjak from I. gimnazija v Celju placed 22nd among 616 competitors from 105 countries and was awarded the first ever gold medal for Slovenia. In addition to this incredible achievement, the team brings home a silver medal awarded to Lovro Drofenik and a bronze medal awarded to Job Petrovčič. The remaining team members, Tevž Lotrič, Jan Genc and Jaka Vrhovnik, were all awarded an honourable mention.

With 117 total points, the most ever, Slovenia placed 40th among 105 participating countries. China placed first, followed by Russia and the United States of America. Republic of Korea placed fourth and Thailand placed fifth.

Due to the pandemic, this edition of the International Mathematical Olympiad took place virtually. The contestants, supervised by international IMO commissioners, solved problems in their own countries on September 21 and 22, 2020. For Slovenia, the olympiad took place in Bled instead of St. Petersburg. The team leaders were Gregor Dolinar and Jakob Jurij Snoj from the Society of Mathematicians, Physicists and Astronomers of Slovenia (DMFA Slovenije).

The organisation of this edition of the International Mathematical Olympiad, taking place virtually for the first time, was a very demanding project. The olympiad was largely supported by new technology, with Matjaž Željko from DMFA Slovenije, the Webmaster of the International Mathematical Olympiad, playing a very crucial role in this aspect of the organisation as the head of ICT support.

The 62nd International Mathematical Olympiad in 2021 will again be organised by Russia and hopefully, it will not take place virtually.

The closing ceremony of the 61st International Mathematical Olympiad can be viewed at the link
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYxJDBiB5_etj-B_HVqkOaQ.

More about the results on
https://www.imo-official.org/year_country_r.aspx?year=2020