The American Chemical Society (ACS) is excited to announce that Team USA earned three gold medals and one silver medal at the 56th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) held in Riyadh from July 21 to 30. The third top performer was Team USA's own Yufei Chen.
This year's competition had 84 countries represented and 8 independent students. Of the 327 participants, 202 earned a gold, silver or bronze medal. So overall, Team USA had a strong performance.
Gold medalists
- Yufei Chen, University High School, CA.
- Alice Liu, Marquette High School, MO.
- Yunyi Ling, Montgomery Blair High School, MD.
Silver medalist
- Anant Asthana, John Foster Dulles High School, TX.
"It feels really exciting to be competing at an international level, meeting new people and making friends," Chen says. "Getting third place is really exciting and I feel really proud of my work over the last four years in the Chemistry Olympiad."
The team was supported by head mentor Laura Serbulea of the University of Virginia, as well as college mentor Songwen Xie, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. High school mentors Komal Jain of Lake Braddock Secondary School and Steve Lantos of Brookline High School also supported the team.
ACS has sponsored the U.S. team annually since the country joined the Olympiad in 1984. Principal funding is through the ACS Donald F. and Mildred Topp Othmer Chemistry Olympiad Endowment, with additional support from other donors. For a complete list of sponsors, visit the ACS Olympiad website.
IChO originated with Czechoslovakia, Poland and Hungary in 1968. Soon, other Eastern European countries joined the event; Western Europe began participating in 1974. The first U.S. team competed in 1984, winning one silver and two bronze medals.
