#NEWS | Dalida bags silver in his last IMO

CHIBA, Japan — Raphael Dylan Dalida of Batch 2023 ends his last International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) this year with a silver medal.

Dalida previously won one silver medal in 2021 and two bronze medals in 2020 and 2022 from the said competition.

Despite this year being his final stint in the competition, Dalida assured that he will still help enrich mathematics training in the Philippines.

“I [want to] help out with PMO (Philippine Mathematical Olympiad) and train at MOSC (Mathematical Olympiad Summer Camp),” he shared.

Dalida also strives to improve the implementation of math olympiad training based on his experience as a competitor.

“I think there’s part of the system, particularly in test development and training meta [strategies] where the viewpoints of past contestants would be useful,” he said.

The IMO, widely acclaimed as the largest mathematics competition for high school students, was held from July 2 to 12. The competition proper is held over two days, with three problems to be solved over 4.5 hours each day.

When asked about his strategy for taking the examination, he mentioned that he just planned on having fun with the problems.

He shared the relief he felt after the examination, especially due to its difficulty: “Getting a medal feels really rewarding. Even though the scores don’t show it, ang hirap din makuha [ng ibang problems].”

Even after all the training sessions, he mentioned that being able to reach the IMO was already an achievement in itself.

The Philippine team’s performance is one of the best in the past six years, with the team ranking 25th out of 112 participating countries.

Other members of the Philippine delegation that garnered a silver were Jerome Austin Te (Jubilee Christian Academy) and Filbert Ephraim Wu (Victory Christian International School).

Bronze medalists include Rickson Caleb Tan (MGC New Life Christian Academy), Mohammad Nur Casib (Philippine Science High School–Central Mindanao Campus), and Alvann Walter Paredes Dy (Saint Jude Catholic School).

Team leader Ms. Hazel Joy Shi, deputy team leader Mr. Kerish Villegas, and observer Mr. Ruselle Guadalupe trained and led the team during the competition.

The competition was organized by The Mathematical Olympiad Foundation of Japan, along with the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).

IMO 2024 will be held in Bath, United Kingdom. Details for the Philippine selection tests for the IMO are yet to be announced.