The story behind 5 Indian gold medals at International Physics Olympiad

Bhubaneswar:Sep-3: India’s strike rate in the International Physics Olympiad since 1998 has been 100 percent, where every student has won at least one medal — be it gold, silver, or bronze,” says an elated Shirish Pathare, chief scientific officer at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), TIFR.

Five students from India won a gold medal each at the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) 2018, making history.The International Physics Olympiad is an annual competition in physics for secondary school students which is aimed at promoting physics education. The first IPhO took place in Warsaw, Poland, in 1967, with five participating countries. Today, over 85 countries participated in this event, including India. In 2015, the IPhO took place in Mumbai, India.

Scouting talent and nurturing them is not an easy task, especially when students have to represent the country at an international level. The selection process begins in November and an all India test takes place.

Out of this, some 300 to 350 students are selected. These selected students are again tested in January and 35 students are picked up. Since most of these students are from Class 12, after their school boards and competitive exams, these students are trained in May for 14 days.

After 14 days of training, five got the opportunity to represent India in the international arena.

“It felt amazing that the five of us who came together at the event returned to India with a gold medal. It is a matter of pride for us to win a gold medal for our country,” said Lay Jain,who hails from Bhopal. Jain has been selected in Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US.

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