Once again Sri Lanka triumphs at the
International Mathematical Olympiad by winning one Bronze medal and an Honourable Mention certificate!!
Sri Lankan team led by Supun
T. Samarakoon (Leader) and Mahishanka
Withanachchi (Deputy Leader) came up with an
excellent performance at the 53rd International Mathematical
Olympiad (IMO). The International Mathematical Olympiad is an annual world
championship in Mathematics for High School students. It was started in 1959
with only 7 countries, but over the years it has established itself as the most
prestigious Mathematics competitions of the world.
This time there were 548 contestants from 100
countries and the competition was held in Mar del Plata, Argentina during July
4 – 16, 2012. Sri Lankan team was selected out of more than 4000 students who
participated at the Sri Lankan Mathematics Senior Competition conducted in centres throughout the island including Jaffna, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and
Anuradhapura. Forty students came through the Sri Lankan Mathematics Senior
Competition and got selected to the Sri Lankan Mathematics Senior Challenge
Competition. These students underwent more rigorous testing and training before
four students were selected for the team. The team comprised of,
· Mevan Wijewardena (16) from Maliyadeva College,Kurunagela
· Aravinda Kanchana Ruwanpathirana (19) from
Royal College, Colombo
· Isuru Damindha Manchanayaka (18) from Maliyadeva
College,Kurunagela.
· Belpa Godage Chethana Chathuprabha (15) from
Richmond College,Galle.
The final team of four students was given training
in a residential camp of fifteen days duration before they left to
Mar del Plata, Argentina for the competition.
This year
Republic of Korea came first with 209 points (6 Gold Medals), followed by 
People’s Republic
of China with 195 points (5 Gold Medals and one Bronze Medal). Jeck Lim of Singapore won the first place with the perfect
score of 42 which is a remarkable performance in this year’s IMO.
This time there were two Geometry problems,
number five the hardest one. Our students have scored heavily in Geometry easy
and medium problems in the past. Only Geometry is taught to some extent in our
secondary school curriculum. The other areas of IMO problems, Number Theory,
Algebra and Combinatorics, are not in our secondary
school curriculum. Number Theory though is easy to learn and we have been able
to get our students to do well in Number Theory at the IMO. But solving Algebra
and Combinatorics problems has been very difficult to
our students. But over the years, we at the Sri Lanka Olympiad Mathematics
Foundation have been able to teach and build confidence in our students to
solve these types of problems. This time, Mevan Niluminda Wijewardena from Maliyadeva College, Kurunagela completely solved a Geometry problem (number 1)
and an Inequality problem (number 2), and won a Bronze medal. This is a
milestone in our efforts over the last eight years, since the 
foundation was
formed in 2004, to get our students to do well at the IMO. Especially with Mevan who is the 
youngest IMO
Medal winner for Sri Lanka, the future of Sri Lankan performances in the IMO
looks promising.
Isuru Damindha Manchanayaka from Maliyadeva
College, Kurunagela missed the Bronze medal by just
four points which he almost got there to the solution except the vital mistake
he did.
There is no doubt that we can go a long way at
the IMO. But it remains to see whether they have support from the society. It
is hard to win Silver or Gold medals, but our students definitely have the
mathematical talent required for that. In fact they have proved it this year by
winning medals at such a small age. If IMO achievements are given due
recognition in the local print and electronic media, it will be a huge boost in
morale for the students to pursue the ultimate goal of winning a Gold Medal at
the IMO. It will also be a chance for them to find sponsors since the team is
funded by themselves, without the support of the government or the corporate
sector. Without the additional burden of financing themselves, the students can
focus themselves entirely to the IMO, thus getting them a proper training. The 
training for these students is done by volunteers from the Sri
Lanka Mathematics Foundation whose untiring efforts have resulted in this
success.
Once again we congratulate the Bronze Medal winning team, the four
contestants, the Deputy Leader and the Leader and wish them a bright future in
their careers.
Follow this link to see the results of the Sri
Lankan team at the Official IMO site,
http://official.imo2011.nl/team_r.aspx?code=LKA&year=2012
Sri Lanka Olympiad Mathematics Foundation