Math prodigies gather in Cluj-Napoca for International Mathematical Olympiad

Over 600 students from more than one hundred countries will be competing in the 59th edition of the International Mathematical Olympiad that starts on Tuesday in Cluj-Napoca. 

According to a release of the Cluj County School Inspectorate, Romania hosts for the 6th time the event that was initiated in 1959 in Brasov and which has grown into the top-magnitude competition of exact sciences; the math championship will see 615 competitors from 114 countries, 263 leaders, deputy-leaders and observers, some 900 foreign guests, over 300 volunteers and about one hundred organization staff gather in Cluj-Napoca. 

"The Ministry of National Education, the Cluj County School Inspectorate and the Romanian Mathematical Society, with the support of partners and of the public and private institutions involved are the organizers of the largest educational event in Romania, taking place in Cluj-Napoca July 3-14, 2018 - the International Mathematical Olympiad 2018 (IMO 2018)," the release states. 

Olympiad honorary president is Academician Viorel Barbu, who is the president of the Romanian Academy's Section of Mathematics and who was a member of team Romania at the first edition of the Olympiad in 1959 in Brasov. 

"It's noteworthy that Romania and Bulgaria are the only countries to have participated uninterruptedly in all the editions of the International Mathematical Olympiad," writes the cited source. 

The competitors' official arrival date is July 7, and the event will open officially on Sunday, July 8, at the Cluj-Napoca Multipurpose Hall. Access is allowed only to the persons involved in the event, based on accreditation. The public will be able to watch the festivities live on the TVR Cluj, TVR 3 and TVR International channels, as well as on the other partner TV stations.