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South Africa wins 2016 Pan African Mathematics Olympiad

Tuesday, 03 May 2016

South Africa wins 2016 Pan African Mathematics Olympiad

This year 45 contestants from 8 African countries took part in the 24th Pan African Mathematics Olympiad (PAMO). The South African team came out with flying colours ending up as winners in both the overall competitions as well as PAMO-G (the competition for girls); Tunisia was 2nd and Côte d’Ivoire third. The girls also took part in the PAMO-G which is an Olympiad for girls that runs concurrently with the PAMO. SangEun Lee not only won the PAMO-G, but also won the overall competition and was crowned the Queen of Mathematics for the second year in a row.

The PAMO which took place in Senegal from the 23rd to the 30th of April is a mathematics Olympiad catering for young African high school learners. Contestants wrote two tests consisting of three Olympiad problems each: tough questions requiring insight, ingenuity and logical rigorous proofs. The following countries participated in the 2016 PAMO: Mali, Gambia, Senegal, Kenya, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Tunisia and South Africa.

The South African team did extremely well at both PAMO and PAMO-G and all six contestants walked away with medals:

SangEun Lee Gold Medal St George’s Grammar School in Cape Town
Ralph McDougall Gold Medal Curro Durbanville Private School in Cape Town
Timothy Schlesinger Silver Medal Rondebosch Boys’ High School in Cape Town
Hannah Clayton Silver Medal Rustenburg Girls’ High School in Cape Town
Rauseenah Upadhey Bronze Medal Westerford High School in Cape Town
Mpho Nkwana Bronze Medal Clapham High School in Pretoria

The team achieved this great success under the watchful eye of their team leaders. Liam Baker (Team Leader) and Dylan Nelson (Deputy Leader), two former medallists of the South African Mathematics Olympiad (SAMO), trained the team. Liam Baker describes winning the PAMO as a great achievement for the South African team. “The team did us proud and we are very honoured to have received all the medals. They have shown that hard work and determination is the key to success. The PAMO was well organised and the team members enjoyed the African experience,” explained Mr Baker.