SIX STUDENTS SELECTED TO REPRESENT CANADA AT THE 2005 INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD IN MÉRIDA, MEXICO.

[Graham Wright]

SIX STUDENTS SELECTED TO REPRESENT CANADA AT THE 2005 INTERNATIONAL 
MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD IN MÉRIDA, MEXICO.


OTTAWA, Ontario    Six of Canada?s best high school mathematics 
students have been chosen to represent their country at the 46th 
International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). The IMO is the world 
championship mathematics competition for high school students and is 
being held this year in Mérida, Mexico from July 8 to July 19, 2005.

?The six students have demonstrated the exceptional problem solving 
skills, understanding and creativity that is so necessary to compete 
against the very best at the international level,? said Dr. Graham 
Wright, Executive Director of the Canadian Mathematical Society, the 
organization responsible for the selection and training of Canada?s 
IMO team. ?They represent the best of our students and will be 
excellent ambassadors for Canada?.

The six students - Lin Fei, Don Mills Collegiate Institute, Toronto 
(Ontario); Elyot Grant, Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute, 
Kitchener (Ontario); Yang (Richard) Peng, Vaughan Road Academy, 
Toronto (Ontario);  Dong Uk (David) Rhee, McNally High School, 
Edmonton (Alberta); Peng Shi, Sir John A. MacDonald Collegiate 
Institute. Toronto (Ontario); and Yufei Zhao, Don Mills Collegiate 
Institute, Toronto (Ontario)  -- were selected from among more than 
200,000 students in grades 7 to 12 (plus CEGEP) who participated in 
local, provincial and national mathematics contests.

The Canadian team members, who must be less than 20 years old when 
they write the IMO competition, will be pitting their skills against 
more than 450 of the world?s best students from over 80 countries. The 
IMO competition paper, which is set by an international jury of 
mathematicians, will be written on Wednesday, July 13 and Thursday, 
July 14 and the medals awarded on Monday, July 18. The contest 
consists of two exams, each consisting of three questions on each day 
with a time limit of four and one-half hours. ?It is a highly 
challenging mathematical "hexathlon" and these are our Canadian 
mathletes,? commented Wright.

The team will be accompanied by the Team Leader, Dr. Felix Recio 
(University of Toronto), and the Deputy Team Leader, Dr. Dorette Pronk 
(Dalhousie University).

Canada first sent a team to an IMO competition in 1981 (Washington, 
USA). Since then, Canadian students have done very well, receiving a 
total of 15 gold, 27 silver, and 55 bronze medals. At last year?s IMO 
in Athens, (Greece), the Canadian team tied for 21st out of the 82 
competing countries and won five medals.

"These competitions allow Canadian high school students to compare 
their results with the best of those in other countries," said Dr. 
George Bluman, University of British Columbia and Chair of the CMS 
Mathematical Competitions Committee. "It should be noted that Canadian 
students do very well even though in many countries high school 
finishes at age 19."

The six students will be attending a special IMO Training Camp at the 
University of Calgary and the Banff International Research Station 
from June 25 to July 10 and an IMO Team Send-off Luncheon will be held 
on June 28 at 1: PM. The media can meet the team at 12:00 noon on June 
28 at the Learning Commons, Biological Sciences Building, University 
of Calgary. The team will leave for Mexico on July 10 and will return 
to Canada on July 19.

Sponsors of the 2005 Canadian IMO team include: the Ontario Ministry 
of Education; the Newfoundland and Labrador Ministry of Education; the 
Nova Scotia Ministry of Eduction; the Quebec Ministry of Education; 
the Northwest Territories Ministry of Education; Alberta Learning; the 
Saskatchewan Ministry of Education; the Canadian Mathematical Society; 
Sun Life Financial; the Samuel Beatty Fund; MapleSoft; Centre de 
recherches mathématiques; the Banff International Research Station; 
the Fields Institute for Research in the Mathematical Sciences; the 
Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences; the Department of 
Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, University of Alberta; the 
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Calgary; the 
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Ottawa; the 
Department of Mathematics, Université du Québec à Montréal; the 
Department of Mathematics, University of Toronto; the Centre for 
Education in Mathematics and Computing, University of Waterloo; the 
Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, University of 
Waterloo; the Department of Mathematics, University of Western 
Ontario; the Department of Mathematics, Wilfrid Laurier University; 
and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, York University.



For more information, contact:


Dr. Graham P. Wright
Executive Director
Canadian Mathematical Society
Tel: (613) 562-5702
Cel: (613) 290-3046

director at cms.math.ca


Dr. George Bluman
Chair - MCC Committee
Department of Mathematics
University of British Columbia
Tel: (604) 822-3044

bluman at math.ubc.ca