India’s six-person student team won the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) 2024, giving the nation its best-ever result. The Indian high school team finished fourth in the world, taking home four gold medals, one silver medal, and one honourable mention from the just-ended 65th International Motorcycling Olympiad in Bath, United Kingdom.
In terms of the number of gold medals won and the rank attained, this is the finest performance by an Indian in the Indian Ocean since the nation’s founding in 1989. Before 2024, India’s highest ranking was in IMO 1998, and IMO 2001 was ranked 7.
The gold medal winners were Rushil Mathur (grade 12 from Mumbai), Kanav Talwar (grade 10 from Noida), Ananda Bhaduri (grade 12 from Guwahati), and Adhitya Mangudy (grade 11 from Pune). Grade 12 student Arjun Gupta from Delhi took the silver medal, while Grade 12 student Siddharth Choppara from Pune received an honourable mention.
Globally, the top three winners were, in that order, Team USA, China, and South Korea. India finished the Olympiad with a total score of 167, one point less than South Korea, who took third place. The USA team that won had a total score of 192. 108 countries sent 609 students to the IMO 2024 (528 males and 81 females). Additionally, Mangudy’s achievement earned him the fifth-best overall ranking of any Indian team member in history.
On Twitter, PM Narendra Modi congratulated the team on X. India’s fourth-place finish in the International Maths Olympiad—its best-ever result—is a source of great pride and happiness. Our contingent brought home four gold medals and one silver medal. This accomplishment will encourage several other children and contribute to the growing popularity of mathematics, he said.
The winning team told Business Line that, thanks to the IMO, they had the opportunity to network with math experts, previous medalists, and peers from over 100 nations. Their accomplishment is attributed to their school’s assistance as well as the interactions and mentoring they received from renowned math faculty members around India at the IMO training camp. They all plan to pursue college degrees in computer science or mathematics.
Adithya Mangudy discusses the challenge and notes that Olympiad math differs significantly from competitive exams. The primary distinction is time: in math Olympiads, issues are solved more deeply, but in JEE, we have to complete three problems in four hours, whereas in JEE, questions are answered in around three minutes. Because of this, their study methods are very different, although preparing for the Math Olympiad can aid with JEE preparation, he says.
According to Rushil Mathur, the training camp was an excellent opportunity for them to network with more than sixty other students who share their enthusiasm for mathematics. Mathur will further his undergraduate studies in computer science and mathematics at the University of Oxford.
According to Kanav Talwar, olympiads foster ingenuity in problem-solving. “During Olympiads, we can dedicate a significant amount of time to a specific problem and investigate numerous innovative solutions,” he stated.
Prithwijit De, the National Coordinator of the Mathematical Olympiad and an associate professor at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBSCE), said, “It’s interesting to note that since 2019 (except 2020 when India couldn’t participate in the IMO) Team India has secured at least one Gold medal every year at the IMO and the total gold medal haul in all these years is nine.”
The Indian team was coached by Professor Krishnan Sivasubramanian of IIT Bombay, past IMO medalists Rijul Saini of HBCSE, Rohan Goyal, who is currently a Ph.D. student at MIT, USA, and others during the IMO Training Camp, which was held at Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI) this year.
According to CMI director Madhavan Mukund, student interest in competing in international olympiads in science and mathematics is expanding every year. He continues, “As they witness the success stories from the earlier editions, their confidence and determination also rise.”
High school students compete in a worldwide mathematics competition called the IMO. Academics have noticed that Indian Olympiad winners typically pursue undergraduate degrees in mathematics or other STEM fields overseas before entering the field. They further say that there is usually no crossover between the group of Olympiad winners and IIT hopefuls.
