Students win medals at South Africa mathematics competition

August 7, 2019

Mexico's math competition medalists in South Africa.

A team of young mathematicians representing Mexico in an international math competition in Durban, South Africa, last week brought home eight medals and two honorable mentions.

In the team section of the South African International Mathematics Competition, Mexican middle and elementary school teams won a gold medal and a bronze, while in the individual section Mexican competitors won one gold medal, two silver, three bronze and two honorable mentions. The 2019 competition was the first time that a Mexican team has won a gold medal in the group section.

The individual gold medal was won by 12-year-old Mateo Iván Latapí Acosta, a native of Mexico City.

This year, 244 middle school students and 252 elementary school students from 27 countries participated in the competition, mostly from east and southeast Asia. The only countries in the Americas that sent teams were Mexico, the United States and Canada.

The Mexican team’s travel to South Africa was paid for by filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, who offered to fund the trip after government funding for the Mexican Math Olympiad (OMM) was cut.

After the competition, the OMM thanked del Toro for his support with a message on Twitter.

“Thank you @RealGDT! We don’t want to imagine what would have happened without your support,” the OMM said. “We don’t want to work with an uncertain budget. We work a lot and we work well; and we keep demonstrating that with our results. These are the fruits of years of labor.”