Gifted Year 13 pupil Gabriel Gendler is hoping to build on the extraordinary success he enjoyed representing the UK in the International Mathematical Olympiad by securing a place at Cambridge.
The UK’s six-strong team came ninth out of 97 countries in the Olympiad (IMO), the best result since 1996. Gabriel (pictured right in the photograph) and his teammates beat all other EU nations and came second in Europe behind Russia. The competition took place during the summer in Colombia.
His strong showing earned him the rare accolade of an IMO silver medal: only a quarter of the 527 contestants received gold or silver medals, with silver going to those who scored more than 24 points out of a possible 42.
QE’s Headmaster, Neil Enright, said: “Gabriel is the first boy from QE to be selected to represent the UK at the Olympiad, having been a reserve for last year’s team. He is to be congratulated on his selection and on his subsequent performance, which both represent achievement at the highest level and bring great credit on the school.”
Assistant Head of Mathematics Wendy Fung added that Gabriel is applying to read Mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge, the traditional destination of many of the country’s top young mathematicians: “He is looking forward to joining the rest of the IMO team at Cambridge next year.”
Contestants in the IMO must answer six problems, each worth seven points. It was first held in Romania in 1959 and has since been held annually, except in 1980. Participants must be under the age of 20 and must not be registered at any higher education institution, so Gabriel hopes to compete in the IMO one last time next summer before taking up his university place.