Croatia’s international successes are not limited just to football.
Croatian students who took part in the Math Olympics in Romania have returned with five medals. They have won the highest number of points ever and achieved the third best result in history. They have returned to Zagreb with four silver and one bronze medal, reports Index.hr on July 14, 2018.
The math team included Tadej Petar Tukara (Zagreb), Marin Varivoda (Zadar), Petar Nizić-Nikolac (Zagreb), Borna Šimić (Slavonski Brod), Ilija Uzelac Bujišić (moved recently to Belgrade, but still represents Croatia), Ivan Novak (Vrbovec), and team leaders Petar Bakić and Matija Bucić.
After a rigorous preparation and selection process, the six best high school students were selected to represent Croatia at this competition which brought together students from 116 countries.
Petar Bakić, an assistant at the Mathematics Department of the Faculty of Science, said he was proud with the boys. “They approached the competition very seriously and we can be proud of their achievements,” said Bakić. “Our team has participated in this competition since the independence of Croatia. Last year, we went to Rio de Janeiro and won many medals,” said Bakić. He added that it was not easy to enter the team and that the six best high school students had to win numerous competitions to be selected.
“We select them through a rigorous competition system. All starts with school competitions, followed by county and state events. We select 1st- to 4th-grade students who achieve the best results at the national competitions in math. Then they attend the Croatian Mathematical Olympiad which lasts for three days and includes three exams. That is the final selection competition for the international Olympics,” explained Bakić.
Bakić said that some members of this year’s team attended the competition in Rio last year and won medals. “An important part of the process is the selection of students. As for the preparations, they lasted a whole year, and at the end of the school year, we organised an extensive preparation cycle which lasted three to four weeks. We did a simulation of the competition and organised lectures for them.”
“In addition, during the year, they attended math workshops organized by the Marin Getaldić Association of Young Mathematicians, and there are also summer math camps and the winter math school,” said Bakić, who led the team together with Matija Bucić.
The main organiser of the Croatian part of the competition is the Croatian Mathematical Society, within includes the Commission for International Mathematical Competitions.
Translated from Index.hr.
