After a decade, the Philippines finally got a bronze medal at the most prestigious mathematics fest in the world.

In July, Diogo Miguel Moitinho de Almeida from the Ateneo High School did his country proud at the 49th International Math Olympiad (IMO) in Madrid, Spain. His teammates were Jeffrey Kenneth Go and Mark Benedict Tan, both from Xavier High School. They were trained by professors Ian Garces of Ateneo de Manila University and Julius Basilla of the University of the Philippines, Diliman.

More than 500 contestants from 102 countries and territories joined the IMO, the world?s largest and most difficult secondary level math competition.

Preparation

How were the contestants selected? The first step was the Philippine Math Olympiad where 16 finalists were chosen to attend a Summer Camp in Baguio City. They listened to lectures by university professors, including Adrian Valdez and Guido David of UP, and Timothy Teng of Ateneo.

The students were given four tests, each consisting of three problems to be solved in two hours. Six students made it to the next phase.

?It is important to spot students who have the real heart and the proper discipline for problem solving,? says Garces. The list was later narrowed to five because one student, Tobit Narciso, decided to train for the International Physics Olympiad. (He got a bronze medal in Hanoi, Vietnam, under the guidance of Perry Esguerra of the UP National Institute of Physics.)

For six weeks, the five finalists attended a high-level college class ran by Ateneo president Fr. Bienvenido Nebres and me in the morning. In the afternoon, Garces and Basilla took turns in inundating them with past IMO problems. Finally, three were chosen for the official Philippine team.

The team?s skills were further honed by past IMO contestants Glen Ong and Richard Eden at a two-day workshop at the UP National Institute for Math and Science Development.

Training with the coaches continued everyday (including Saturdays) till the IMO. Sessions were sponsored by the Math Society of the Philippines and the Science Education Institute of the Department of Science and Technology.

Misconceptions

IMO contestants were expected to solve as many of the six non-routine problems as they could, within a few hours in two days. ?The problems were within the reach of our students,? says Garces. ?Not easy, but not very hard. In fact, I expected them to solve the first two problems on geometry and inequalities.? Indeed, Diogo got perfect scores in those two questions.

In the past, the Philippines did not do very well in the IMO. But after the experience this year, Garces says many of his own beliefs were proven wrong. ?Many of the students from other countries are two years older than ours,? he says, ?because their pre-university education requires this. I used to believe that their students were equipped with more math. But the three perfect scorers this year (two from China and one from the United States) were younger than our students! This means that age may not be a gauge of good performance in the IMO.?

Garces also used to think that lack of background was a disadvantage. ?Before we embarked on the training, Diogo?s math background was not sufficient. Unlike Mark and Jeffrey who already received training from the Mathematics Trainers? Guild, Diogo did not undergo special training, except for a few years from the Ateneo Problem Solvers Group. On several occasions, when we mentioned a certain theorem, say Fermat?s Little Theorem, Diogo?s reaction would be, ?What?s that??...this lack of tools worried me (and), because of this, I personally trained the students on the basics, while the other trainers did more advanced techniques. But it was precisely this lack of math background that made Diogo discipline himself to learn more, so he got a medal.?

Diogo agrees. ?I think it was a combination of my understanding of math and my motivation,? he says. ?My background in logic, among other things, helped me understand and absorb new topics quickly and in a manner that allowed me to remember the logic behind the math rather than simply memorizing all the concepts, which seems impossible for a contest with topics as wide as those of the IMO. I also told myself this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to prove myself to the world. That?s why I pushed myself a little harder.?

Going for the gold

Training is more important than motivation, right? Wrong. ?I thought that we only needed to train the students hard, and motivation would come as a result,? says Garces. ?Diogo proved me wrong. The best selection scheme would be to choose only those students who love problem solving, those who, when alone, would do problems in their free time. Before we train students, we must see to it that they love what they do, not because their parents or schools want them to succeed. Right now, even when he is in college, Diogo still asks me to send him problems to solve. That is the mark of a real Olympian.?

What advice does Diogo have for future contestants? ?Aim for the gold. I was aiming for the gold until I got the score for the very last question. You always want to aim high, even if it seems impossible, because you never want to do less than what you can possibly do.?

?In the years to come, starting from a reasonably high-standard PMO, we need to make the preparation more intensive, more extensive and more productive,? says Garces. ?Let?s join hands, for the gold medal is within our reach!?

E-mail Queena N. Lee-Chua at blessbook@yahoo.com.