One gold, 8 silver and 2 bronze medals came home with high school students representing Israel at these international competitions.
By Abigail Klein Leichman, ISRAEL21c
Israeli students came home from Japan with a total of 11 medals from the International Mathematics Olympiad held July 2 to 13 in Chiba and the International Physics Olympiad held in Tokyo, July 10 to 17.
The sole gold medal was earned by Itamar Nir in the Math Olympiad, which drew 618 contestants from 112 countries.
His teammates Ofer Bogoslavsky, Avner Spira and Assaf Yacouel won silver medals, while Yotam Amir and Ori Frankel won bronze medals. Israel ranked in 14th place overall.
In the Physics Olympiad, Israeli silver medal winners were Omri Nitzan, Ido Ram, Doron Walach, Inbar Wald and Matan Weinman. Jakob Lars Kristmannsson received an honorable mention.
Meanwhile, at the World Swimming Championships in the Japanese city of Fukuoka, Israel’s national water polo team won its first match against Kazakhstan. This is the first time Israel participated in the World Water Polo Championships, one of six disciplines in the event that attracts contestants from 200 countries. The event continues through July 30.