International Mathematical Olympiad

The logo of the International Mathematical Olympiad.

The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is a six-question two-day math competition for students that have not yet gone to college and are under 20 years old. Any country may take part in it by sending a team of six students to compete.

History

The IMO has been held every year since 1959. It takes place in a different country (which is called the "host country") from year to year. However, it is often seen that this competition is dominated by the US and China.

Venue Year Date Top-ranked country[1] Refs
  Brașov and Bucharest 1959 July 21 – July 31   Romania [2]
  Sinaia 1960 July 18 – July 26   Czechoslovakia [2]
  Veszprém 1961 July 6 – July 16   Hungary [2]
  České Budějovice 1962 July 7 – July 15 [2]
  Warsaw and Wrocław 1963 July 5 – July 13   Soviet Union [2]
  Moscow 1964 June 30 – July 10 [2]
  East Berlin 1965 July 3 – July 13 [2]
  Sofia 1966 July 1 – July 14 [2]
  Cetinje 1967 July 2 – July 13 [2]
10    Moscow 1968 July 5 – July 18   East Germany [2]
11    Bucharest 1969 July 5 – July 20   Hungary [2]
12    Keszthely 1970 July 8 – July 22 [2]
13    Žilina 1971 July 10 – July 21 [2]
14    Toruń 1972 July 5 – July 17   Soviet Union [2]
15    Moscow 1973 July 5 – July 16 [2]
16    Erfurt and East Berlin 1974 July 4 – July 17 [2]
17    Burgas and Sofia 1975 July 3 – July 16   Hungary [2]
18    Lienz 1976 July 7 – July 21   Soviet Union [2]
19    Belgrade 1977 July 1 – July 13   United States [2]
20    Bucharest 1978 July 3 – July 10   Romania [2]
21    London 1979 June 30 – July 9   Soviet Union [2]
  The 1980 IMO was due to be held in Mongolia. It was cancelled, and split into two unofficial events in Europe.[3]
22    Washington, D.C. 1981 July 8 – July 20   United States [2]
23    Budapest 1982 July 5 – July 14   West Germany [2]
24    Paris 1983 July 1 – July 12 [2]
25    Prague 1984 June 29 – July 10   Soviet Union [2]
26    Joutsa 1985 June 29 – July 11   Romania [2]
27    Warsaw 1986 July 4 – July 15   Soviet Union
  United States
[2]
28    Havana 1987 July 5 – July 16   Romania [2]
29    Sydney and Canberra 1988 July 9 – July 21   Soviet Union [2]
30    Braunschweig 1989 July 13 – July 24   China [2]
31    Beijing 1990 July 8 – July 19 [2]
32    Sigtuna 1991 July 12 – July 23   Soviet Union [2]
33    Moscow 1992 July 10 – July 21   China [2]
34    Istanbul 1993 July 13 – July 24 [2]
35    Hong Kong 1994 July 8 – July 20   United States [2]
36    Toronto 1995 July 13 – July 25   China [4]
37    Mumbai 1996 July 5 – July 17   Romania [5]
38    Mar del Plata 1997 July 18 – July 31   China [6]
39    Taipei 1998 July 10 – July 21   Iran [7]
40    Bucharest 1999 July 10 – July 22   China
  Russia
[8]
41    Daejeon 2000 July 13 – July 25   China [9]
42    Washington, D.C. 2001 July 1 – July 14 [10]
43    Glasgow 2002 July 19 – July 30 [11]
44    Tokyo 2003 July 7 – July 19   Bulgaria [12]
45    Athens 2004 July 6 – July 18   China [13]
46    Mérida 2005 July 8 – July 19 [14]
47    Ljubljana 2006 July 6 – July 18 [15]
48    Hanoi 2007 July 19 – July 31   Russia [16]
49    Madrid 2008 July 10 – July 22   China [17]
50    Bremen 2009 July 10 – July 22 [18]
51    Astana 2010 July 2 – July 14 [19]
52    Amsterdam 2011 July 12 – July 24 [20]
53    Mar del Plata 2012 July 4 – July 16   South Korea [21]
54    Santa Marta 2013 July 18 – July 28   China [22]
55    Cape Town 2014 July 3 – July 13 [23]
56    Chiang Mai 2015 July 4 – July 16   United States [24]
57    Hong Kong 2016 July 6 – July 16 [25]
58    Rio de Janeiro 2017 July 12 – July 23   South Korea [26]
59    Cluj-Napoca 2018 July 3 – July 14   United States [27]
60    Bath 2019 July 11 – July 22   China
  United States
[28]
61    Saint Petersburg 2020 September 19 – September 28   China [29][30][31][32]
62    Saint Petersburg 2021 July 7 – July 17 [33]
63    Oslo 2022 July 6 – July 16 [34][35]
64    Chiba 2023 July 2 – July 13 [36]
65    Bath 2024 July 11 – July 22   United States [37]
66    Sunshine Coast 2025 July 10 – July 20 [38]
67    Shanghai 2026 [39]
68    Hungary 2027 [40]
69    Saudi Arabia 2028 [41]

Results

The current ten countries with the best all-time results are as follows:[42]

Rank Country Appearances Gold Silver Bronze Honorable Mentions
1   China 36 168 36 6 0
2   United States 47 137 117 29 1
3   Russia 30 106 62 12 0
4   South Korea 34 86 74 28 7
5   Hungary 61 85 168 107 10
6   Romania 62 78 149 110 7
7   Soviet Union[n 1] 29 77 67 45 0
8   Vietnam 45 65 111 78 2
9   Bulgaria 62 55 123 114 13
10   Germany 44 53 105 83 16

International Mathematical Olympiad Media

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Ranking of countries". International Mathematical Olympiad. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29 2.30 2.31 2.32 2.33 2.34 "Historical Record of US Teams". Mathematical Association of America. Archived from the original on 2009-11-28. Retrieved 2011-06-19.
  3. Unofficial events were held in Finland and Luxembourg in 1980. "UK IMO register". IMO register. Retrieved 2011-06-17.
  4. "IMO 1995". Canadian Mathematical Society. Archived from the original on 2008-02-29. Retrieved 2008-03-17.
  5. "IMO 1996". Canadian Mathematical Society. Archived from the original on 2008-02-23. Retrieved 2008-03-17.
  6. "IMO 1997" (in español). Argentina. Retrieved 2008-03-17.
  7. "IMO 1998". Republic of China. Archived from the original on 1998-12-05.
  8. "IMO 1999". Canadian Mathematical Society. Archived from the original on 2008-02-23. Retrieved 2008-03-17.
  9. "IMO 2000". Wolfram. Retrieved 2008-03-17.
  10. "IMO 2001". Canadian Mathematical Society. Archived from the original on 2011-05-18. Retrieved 2008-03-17.
  11. Andreescu, Titu (2004). USA & International Mathematical Olympiads 2002. Mathematical Association of America. ISBN 978-0-88385-815-8.
  12. "IMO 2003". Japan. Archived from the original on 2008-03-06. Retrieved 2008-03-17.
  13. "IMO 2004". Greece. Archived from the original on 2004-06-27.
  14. "IMO 2005". Mexico. Archived from the original on 2005-07-11.
  15. "IMO 2006". Slovenia. Archived from the original on 2009-02-28. Retrieved 2008-03-17.
  16. "IMO 2007". Vietnam. Archived from the original on 2009-02-12. Retrieved 2008-03-17.
  17. "IMO 2008". Spain. Archived from the original on 2008-02-26. Retrieved 2008-03-17.
  18. "IMO 2009" (in Deutsch). Germany. Retrieved 2008-03-17.
  19. "51st IMO 2010". IMO. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
  20. "52nd IMO 2011". IMO. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
  21. "53rd IMO 2012". IMO. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
  22. "54th International Mathematical Olympiad". Universidad Antonio Nariño. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  23. "55th IMO 2014". IMO. Retrieved 2016-09-10.
  24. "56th IMO 2015". IMO. Retrieved 2016-09-10.
  25. "57th IMO 2016". IMO. Retrieved 2016-09-10.
  26. "58th IMO 2017". IMO. Retrieved 2016-09-10.
  27. "59th IMO 2018". IMO. Retrieved 2016-09-10.
  28. "60th IMO 2019". IMO. Retrieved 2016-09-10.
  29. Becomes a virtual event due to COVID-19 pandemic.
  30. "61st IMO 2020". IMO. Retrieved 2016-09-10.
  31. "61st IMO 2020". Retrieved 2018-12-25.
  32. "Annual Regulations for IMO 2020" (PDF). Imo2020.ru. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  33. "62nd IMO 2021 Result Table". Imo-official.org. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
  34. "63rd IMO 2022". IMO. Retrieved 2017-07-25.
  35. "63rd IMO 2022". Department of Mathematics, University of Os. Retrieved 2018-12-25.
  36. "64th IMO 2023". IMO. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  37. "IMO2024". IMO. Retrieved 2023-07-28.
  38. "66th IMO 2025". IMO. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  39. "67th IMO 2026". IMO. Retrieved 2023-07-28.
  40. "68th IMO 2027". IMO. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  41. "69th IMO 2028". IMO. Retrieved 2024-08-25.
  42. "Results: Cumulative Results by Country". Imo-official.org. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
Notes
  1. The Soviet Union participated the IMO for the last time in 1991. From 1992, former Soviet countries – including Russia – entered separately.[1]