18/04/2023

Brazil wins two bronze medals at EGMO 2023

The Brazilian team secured two bronze medals and an honorable mention at the 12th edition of the European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad (EGMO), held this year in the city of Portorož, Slovenia. In total, four students participated in the scientific competition which began on April 13 and runs until the 19th. The awards ceremony for the participants takes place this Tuesday (18).

The medals were won by Cecília Mileski de Paula and Bilhana Plamenova Kochloukova. Isabela Ruthner Dom received an honorable mention. Student Endy Lumy Okamura Miyashita also participated in the Olympiad. The group's performance secured Brazil 27th place in the overall ranking of the European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad, which includes more than 200 students from 56 countries.

Professor Ana Paula Chaves, who is accompanying the team in Slovenia, highlighted the students' dedication.

“This team had been training for a while, they were all very focused on this competition and very well guided. It's a group that has already been inspiring other, much younger girls to participate in the selection process to represent Brazil in future editions, one day. We are also seeing the level that these girls are reaching in the selection tests grow: young and with great maturity. The prospects are very good,” she assessed.

One of the competitors, Cecília Mileski, had already participated in the international competition last year – in an online format. She, who has won five gold medals and one bronze medal in the OBMEP (Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad for Public Schools), says that it was the public school science competition that introduced her to the Olympic world.

"It was through OBMEP that I decided I wanted to participate in more and more Olympiads and take advantage of everything they could offer me. It was because of the OBMEP awards ceremony that I flew on a plane for the first time, and now, it was the first time I left Brazil. All because of mathematics."

Another student who won a bronze medal was 16-year-old Bilhana Plamenova. The young woman participated in three editions of the OBMEP (Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad for Public Schools) and won a gold medal, a bronze medal, and an honorable mention.

“OBMEP was my first national olympiad and it motivated me to study for other olympiads like the Brazilian Mathematics Olympiad and the Girls in Mathematics Tournament.” The student described the EGMO exam as “fun and challenging.”

Looking to the future, she says she intends to pursue a career in the exact sciences. "The Olympiads helped me deepen my studies in mathematics, and through them I was able to meet many people who work in this field, which motivates me to want to continue in this area," Bilhana concluded.

Isabela Ruthner Dom, who has won one gold and three silver medals in the OBMEP (Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad for Public Schools), says that participating in EGMO (a prestigious Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad for Public Schools) is a dream she never imagined she would realize. “It takes courage to accept opportunities. The difference isn't just in the studies, but in saying yes to the doors that open along the way.”

The four young women who represented Brazil at the EGMO study at the same school in Fortaleza, Ceará. The school offers scholarships to students from various regions of the country who excel in the Olympic world.

EGMO History

The European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad has been held since 2012 and operates in a format similar to the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), with two tests held on two consecutive days. Brazil has participated in the competition since 2017, accumulating 1 gold medal, 4 silver medals, and 14 bronze medals.

"The team is still seeking consistency and improved results to achieve better positions in the overall ranking," explained the professor, who also emphasized the importance of women's scientific competition.

“There is a very large disparity in female participation in international olympiads. This difference in national olympiads is already very large from levels 2 and 3 onwards, especially, and when we start representing Brazil in international competition, this percentage plummets. This team did not have the opportunity to represent Brazil in other olympiads, and that is the great importance of EGMO. This fosters the existence of EGMO,” concluded the professor.