Pretoria, 22 July 2025 – The South African Mathematics Foundation (SAMF) is excited to share the fantastic results of the South African team at the International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO), which took place in Australia from 10 to 20 July. The IMO is one of the biggest and most important mathematics competitions in the world, where high school students from over 100 countries compete to show off their mathematics skills.
This year, the South African team finished 38th out of 110 countries – their best ranking in the last 25 years! The People’s Republic of China ranked first, followed by the United States, and the Republic of Korea.
Here are the results of our amazing students:
- Youkyum Kim (Grade 12, Reddam House Durbanville, Cape Town, Western Cape) – Silver Medal
- Moied Baleg (Grade 12, The Settlers High School, Belville, Western Cape) – Bronze Medal
- Eli Williams (Grade 11, Westerford High School, Cape Town, Western Cape) – Bronze Medal
- Pocoyo Pun (Grade 10, Elkanah House, Cape Town, Western Cape) – Bronze Medal
- Yian Xu (Grade 12, Redhill High School, Sandton, Gauteng) – Bronze Medal
- Ellen Grant-Smith (Grade 12, Westerford High School, Cape Town, Western Cape) – Honourable Mention
The competition takes place over two days, where each student must solve three tough problems in 4½ hours each day. After the competition, the leaders and teachers double-check all the answers to make sure they are marked fairly and correctly.
The students are ranked based on how many points they score. Medals are given to the top students, but only about half of them get a medal. The medals are given out in a way that for every gold medal, there are about two silver medals and three bronze medals. If a student doesn’t win a medal but scores 7 points on at least one problem, they get an honourable mention.
Professor Moshokoa, the SAMF’s Executive Director, is very proud of the team, said, “We’re so pleased with how our team did this year. They worked really hard, and this achievement shows just how talented they are.”
SAMF congratulates the team for their incredible success at the IMO. Their hard work, dedication, and love of mathematics made this achievement possible.
The team’s participation was made possible by Old Mutual South Africa.
From left to right: Moied Baleg, Pocoyo Pun, Youkyum Kim, Kerri Porrell (deputy team leader), Ellen-Grant Smith, Yian Xu, and Eli Williams
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