The students representing Ireland competed alongside 666 of the world’s brightest young minds from 117 countries across the world.

Six students representing Ireland – Owen Barron, Vitalii Halushko, Angyang Li, Jack McAuliffe, Ben Maguire and Tianci Yan – have walked away from the International Maths Olympiad 2026 competition in Shanghai, China with three medals. 

The secondary school students earned one silver and two bronze medals at the 67th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), the global championship in mathematics for second-level students. They competed against 666 of the world’s brightest young minds from 117 countries. 

Each participant was given 4.5 hours per day to solve six highly complex mathematical problems, with each worth a maximum of seven points, for a possible total score of 42 points. The thresholds in 2026 were 29 points for a gold medal, 23 for silver and 16 for bronze, with gold medals awarded to only the top 16pc of competitors.

Maguire won Ireland’s fifth-ever silver medal, with Li and McAuliffe earning bronze medals. This is Ireland’s second time coming away with three medals, while Barron, Yan and Halushko – who each medalled at last year’s event – all earned honourable mentions for a complete and correct solution to at least one problem. 

The team was led by Prof Steve Buckley of Maynooth University, Tianyiwa Xie of the University of Münster and Dr Mark Flanagan from UCD. 

Following last year’s success, Irish Mathematical Trust (IMT) volunteers provided extracurricular maths training and coaching across the country, with recent expansion enabled by Stripe’s sponsorship of the IMT.

Commenting on the win, Alison Ahern, the head of education partnerships at Stripe, said, “Maths is the cornerstone of future success in fields as diverse as engineering, finance, medicine and software development.

“We are dedicated at Stripe to supporting excellence in maths and STEM education in Ireland, and we are hugely proud of this year’s International Maths Olympiad team, who represent Ireland’s sharpest mathematical minds at secondary level.”

Prior to the competition in Shanghai, the team participated in the International Mathematics Summer Camp in Beijing, which incorporated an Olympiad-style contest where Yan, Halushko and McAuliffe earned bronze medals, and Barron a silver. 

Dr Neil Dobbs, a lecturer in mathematics at UCD and chair of the IMT, said, “That all six team members have medalled at the IMO either this year or last is simply extraordinary. The dreams, the hard work and the sense of community throughout the wider squad has been wonderful to witness.”

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