[cmath] SIX STUDENTS SELECTED TO REPRESENT CANADA AT THE 2006 INTERNATIONALMATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD IN LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA.

[Graham Wright]

For release: IMMEDIATE (May 31, 2006)

SIX STUDENTS SELECTED TO REPRESENT CANADA AT THE 2006 INTERNATIONAL
MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD IN LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA.

OTTAWA, Ontario -- Six of Canada’s best high school mathematics students
have been chosen to represent their country at the 47th International
Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). The IMO is the world championship
mathematics competition for high school students and is being held this
year in Ljubljana, Slovenia from July 6 to July 18, 2006.

“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 – Farzin Barekat, Sutherland Secondary School, North
Vancouver (British Columbia); Viktoriya Krakovna, Vaughan Road Academy,
Toronto (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,
Agincourt (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 12 and Thursday, July
13 and the medals awarded on Monday, July 17. 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, Mr. Robert Morewood
(Crofton House School, Vancouver (British Columbia), and the Deputy Team
Leader, Mr. Naoki Sato (AoPS Incorporated).
 	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 16 gold, 29 silver, and 57 bronze medals. At last year’s IMO in
Mérida, (Mexico), the Canadian team placed 19th out of the 91 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
Dalhousie University from June 24 to July 2 and an IMO Team Send-off
Luncheon will be held on June 27 at 12:00 PM. The media can meet the
team at 12:00 noon on June 27 at the University Club (3rd Floor),
Dalhousie University. The team will leave for Slovenia on July 2 and
will return to Canada on July 18.

Sponsors of the 2006 Canadian IMO team include: the Canadian
Mathematical Society; NSERC PromoScience; the Ontario Ministry of
Education; Alberta Learning; Nova Scotia Department of Education; the
Newfoundland and Labrador Ministry of Education; the Quebec Ministry of
Education; the Northwest Territories Ministry of Education; the
Saskatchewan Ministry of Education; Sun Life Financial; the Samuel
Beatty Fund; Maplesoft; Centre de recherches mathématiques; the Fields
Institute; the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences; the
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Dalhousie University; the
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Calgary; the
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of New Brunswick at
Fredericton; the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of
Ottawa; the Department of Mathematics, University of Toronto; the Centre
for Education in Mathematics and Computing, University of Waterloo 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