South Africa’s sharpest young mathematical minds flew the flag high at this year’s International Mathematical Olympiad!
Shanghai, China (24 July 2026) – South Africa picked up a silver medal, a bronze medal and three Honourable Mentions at the 67th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), held in Shanghai from 10 to 20 July 2026.
The competition brought together 666 contestants from 117 countries, vying to crack complex mathematical equations and come out on top!
The IMO is an individual event, though learners compete under their country’s flag. Each contestant works alone for four and a half hours on each of two days, tackling three problems per session without a calculator or any outside help, shares the South African Mathematics Foundation.
The problems are designed to test insight and original thinking, not the kind of methods you’d learn by rote in a classroom.
SA’s six-person team for 2026 was made up of Eli Williams (Grade 12, Westerford High School, Western Cape), who took the silver and Pocoyo Pun (Grade 11, Elkanah House, Western Cape), who earned bronze. Both learners were part of SA’s medal-winning team at the IMO last year.
Joining them was Vincent Wang (Grade 12, Deutsche Internationale Schule Pretoria), Noah Greenblatt (Grade 12, King David High School) and Xiaoyuan Li (Grade 11, St John’s College) – all from Gauteng – who picked up Honourable Mentions. Noah Rassou (Grade 12, South African College High School, Western Cape) also participated in the team.
Getting to this level takes years of running the numbers. Many maths wizzes start out in the Foundation Phase through the International Kangaroo Mathematics Competition, then progress through the South African Mathematics Challenge and the South African Mathematics Olympiad. Those who keep performing move into the SA Mathematics Olympiad Training Programme, where camps and rigorous coursework prepare a shortlist of candidates for the national team. It can take most of a school career to make the cut, and selection stays competitive right up to the final line-up.
Congrat’s to SA’s medal-winning minds who shone at this year’s IMO!
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