October 30, 2020
The Iranian team in the International Informatics (Computer) Olympiad turned in one of its best performances, coming in fourth place.
The Iranian team at the In-ternational Chemistry Olympiad, however, came in a disappointing 10th place this year.
The Iranian chemistry team, which finished its highest, second place, in 2001, has generally ended up in double digits the past decade, the only exceptions being fourth place in 2017 and sixth place in 2016 with a horrifying 20th place finish in 2012.
What’s more, this year’s competition came with only 60 countries participating. More than 70 have participated each year in the past decade, but the coronavirus cut down the turnout this year and forced the sponsors to switch to virtual format.
The Physics Olympiad was canceled this year.
The Biology Olymiad was held virtually in July with no scores reported, so no teams could be ranked. The organizers said four Iranians participated and received three silver medals and one bronze. Only 44 countries participated.
News reports published in Tehran said the Iranian team at the Chemistry Olympiad finished in sixth place. That was inaccurate. The best member of the four-member team finished in tenth place, and the team as a whole finished in 10th place.
The first place team this year was China, as is often the case, followed by the United States, Vietnam and Singapore. Two of the American team members had Chinese names and the other two had Indian names. Three of the Singaporean team members had Chinese names and one had an English name.
The competition included a five-hour laboratory test and a five-hour written exam.