Israeli Olympians Ori Sasson and Yarden Gerbi aren't the only ones bringing home medals this summer -- Israeli students have already performed well in international math, physics, and chemistry olympiads, and now two 18-year-olds won medals at the International Olympiad in Informatics, an international computer science competition. Tomer Arad, an IDF soldier who is studying at the Open University during his military service and Liran Markin, from the WIZO High School at Nahalal in northern Israel took home silver and bronze medals, respectively, from the competition that took place in Kazan, Russia and ended Friday. No official national rankings were published, but Israel is believed to have come in 28th place among the 81 nations that participated in the event. The four-member team practiced under the supervision of Dr. David Ginat, head of the Computer Science Group at Tel Aviv University. Bronze medalist Markin said that this was the second year he had competed in the Olympiad and the second time he had brought home a bronze. "We saw [judoka] Yarden Gerbi's win before we left, and Ori Sasson win his medal during our Olympiad -- and it was really exciting. I think that we have the same 'unit pride' even though our competitions are a little different, because everyone is representing the state," Merkin said. Education Minister Naftali Bennett congratulated the computer science team, saying that "succeeding in and winning at something that is also a student's hobby is a recipe for success. Next year, we'll continue our national program to strengthen mathematics [study], so that more students from all over Israel can be exposed to the wonders of science." Meanwhile, President Reuven Rivlin met on Sunday with two students who won medals at the International Chemistry Olympiad, Ron Solan and Rina Sevostianov. "Good morning, my champions. In the name of Israel, thank you for your achievements. Your participation and medal victories are an honor for the entire state of Israel," Rivlin told the two. Sevostianov told the president that at the competition, she had shared a room with young women from Russia, Costa Rica, and Thailand. "We agreed that when the competition is over, we don't talk about chemistry. We also refrained from talking about politics," she told Rivlin, who replied with a smile: "So to create chemistry, you didn't talk about chemistry."
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שיתוף כתבה
Israelis win 2 medals at international computer science competition
Tomer Arad and Liran Markin, both 18, win silver and bronze medals, respectively, at International Olympiad in Informatics, which took place last week in Kazan, Russia • Education Minister Naftali Bennett praises winners, extols "wonders of science."