James Lin ‘18 Brings Home Gold at IMO

The 58th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from July 12-23. The finest young mathematicians from across the globe came together to solve challenging mathematical problems throughout the competition. Senior James Lin, a first time competitor, excelled during this competition, earning an individual sixth place medal and a fourth place team finish as a member of the United States team.

The IMO is an annual mathematics competition for high school students around the world. This year, over 615 contestants from 111 different countries participated.

“We’ve really grown together and pushed each to become better, from winning USAJMO together (Junior version of USAMO), to making MOP together three years in a row, to winning USAMO together two years in a row.”

Lin’s competitive math career began in third grade when he participated in the elementary math competition called MOEMS; he received perfect scores. He went on to compete in MathCounts, the nation’s premier middle school math competition. In his first attendance, Lin placed 36th at the local level. This taste of competing piqued his interest in math competitions. With newfound passion and vigor, Lin went on to place seventh in the state, and fifth in the country.

The first step toward attending the IMO was taking, along with thousands of other participants, the American Mathematics Competition (AMC) tests. Last school year, Lin achieved a perfect individual and team score at the AMC12, becoming one of only three Exonians to do so that year. He then went on to compete at the USA Math Olympiad (USAMO) which, according to Lin, included more proofs rather than multiple choice or short answer forms. The senior placed within the top twelve scores at the USAMO before being selected to represent the United States at the IMO.

Prior to the competition, Lin had the opportunity to attend a summer program called the Math Olympiad Program (MOP), where he attended classes on a variety of mathematics topics and took practice tests to prepare for the competition. At the summer program, Lin met the members of his team, who were from all over the country, and they spent all of June training together.

Lin admitted that even with his years of experience, the night before the competition was nerve-wracking. “I started to get really stressed...I started to fervently work on some of the problems, despite the strong recommendations from Brian and my teammates not to do so. I really had trouble sleeping that night,” Lin said. The next day, his nervousness reappeared when he confronted the third problem on the test, which Lin found particularly difficult. “I didn’t get very far with the third and final problem of the day,” he explained. However, despite his worries, it turned out that the questions given to the students on the first day were challenging for all contestants. Lin recalled that “very few people even solved two problems,” and only seven people made any progress on the third question, making it “the hardest problem in the history of the IMO, by far.”

Lin’s thorough preparation paid off, and he took home his first gold medal from the IMO this summer. “It was a great moment to be able to hold up the American flag for the whole world to see, as I received my gold medal. I had spent years working for this, and winning a gold medal on an international stage was a dream come true for me,” Lin said. “I truly felt blessed.” Lin said that the experience was “definitely a roller coaster of emotions” for him, and that even though it was a huge honor to represent his country, the “magnitude of it all didn’t really hit” until he was already in Rio de Janeiro. Lin went on to thank his teammates, expressing his gratitude for the comfort he received from close friends.

Lin also gave a lot of credit to his mentors at Exeter. Lin explained that Math Instructor and former IMO coach Zuming Feng, who he has known since sixth grade when he participated in his IDEA Math program, has been instrumental in his development. Lin also mentioned former IMO gold medalist and MOP instructor Ivan Borsenco, who worked intimately with the Exeter Math Club as another influential mentor.

When Lin first enrolled in Exeter, he was amazed by the number of talented students who excelled at competitions like the AMCs.Lin expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to work with other outstanding math students throughout his time at Exeter. He named Yannick Yao ‘17 and Alex Sun ‘17 as two students who he has bonded with through a shared passion for math. “We’ve really grown together and pushed each to become better, from winning USAJMO together (Junior version of USAMO), to making MOP together three years in a row, to winning USAMO together two years in a row,” Lin said.

Overall, Lin found the competition to be a “great experience” for him. What Lin feels that he has truly gained from his time preparing and participating in math competitions is “the ability to problem solve at an elite level, know what it’s like to work at something for years and achieve something special, along with making hundreds of friends who I’m likely to meet in the future over and over again.”