Serbian mathematics students pick up handful of medals

Young Serbian mathematicians have won a handful of medals at the International Mathematical Olympiad, held July 3-14 in Cluj, Romania.

It would not be wrong to say that Team Serbia has won a world championship this year after all - the high school students' showing in Cluj overshadowed their peers from bigger, economically more developed countries, showing that Serbia is not without reason the homeland of scientist such as Nikola Tesla, Mihajlo Pupin, Milutin Milankovic, and Mileva Maric.

Students from the Mathematical Grammar School in Belgrade Aleksa Milojevic and Pavle Martinovic won gold medals, Igor Medvedev and Jelena Ivancic won silver, while Jovan Toromanovic took the bronze, as did Nikola Pavlovic from the Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj Grammar School in Novi Sad.

They competed with about 600 participants from 107 countries. The last time a team of Serbian students won two gold medals in a mathematical olympiad was in 1974 - therefore today we celebrate one of the best results ever achieved in these competitions.

"The gold medal itself represents the crowning achievement of the work and progress made so far, and its unmistakable evidence," says Aleksa Milojevic. "I think that on the one hand, the olympiad is just a competition with tasks, and on the other a place where one can meet very interesting people," he said.

These students are acquiring their knowledge exclusively in Serbia, a "nursery" of mathematical champions, and have invested a lot of work and made many sacrificed. However, this success could not have come without the support of the state and all those who understand that investing in natural sciences and encouraging their development represents the future.

"The Society of Mathematicians of Serbia most sincerely thanks the Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS) - their program 'Energy of Knowledge' - and the Ministry of Education, Science...

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