Zhuo Qun Song Explained

Zhuo Qun Song
Native Name:宋卓群
Birth Place:Tianjin, People's Republic of China
Nationality:Canadian
Other Names:Alex
Known For:Most highly decorated IMO contestant with 5 golds and 1 bronze medal
Alma Mater:Princeton University
Phillips Exeter Academy
C:宋卓群
P:Sòng Zhuōqún

Zhuo Qun Song (; born 1997), also called Alex Song, is a Chinese-born Canadian who is currently the most highly decorated International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) contestant, with five gold medals and one bronze medal.

Early life

Song was born in Tianjin, China in 1997.[1] He and his parents moved to Canada in 2002. Song was brought up in Waterloo, Ontario.[2] [3]

Song was interested in mathematics at a very young age where he started participating in competitions in first grade. By fourth grade, Song was participating in competitions such as the Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge and the American Mathematics Competitions. In fifth grade, Song became interested in solving Olympiad type questions and started training to solve them.

In 2011, Song moved to the United States to attend Phillips Exeter Academy.

International Mathematical Olympiad

In 2010, when Song was in the seventh grade, he represented Vincent Massey Secondary School in the Canadian Mathematical Olympiad where he finished first place.[4]

In the same year, Song represented Canada in the 2010 IMO where he won a bronze medal. He would continue to represent Canada for 5 subsequent IMOs where he obtained a gold medal each time. He obtained a perfect score on his final run in 2015, the only contestant to do so that year.[5] The performances made Song the most decorated contestant of all time.[6] In 2015, Song was also one of the twelve top scorers of the United States of America Mathematical Olympiad, representing Phillips Exeter Academy.[7]

Results

YearVenueResult
2015 Chiang MaiGold medal (P)[8]
2014 Cape TownGold medal[9]
2013 Santa MartaGold medal[10]
2012 Mar del PlataGold medal[11]
2011 AmsterdamGold medal[12]
2010 AstanaBronze medal[13]

Post-IMO

Song graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 2015.

Song attended Princeton University where he graduated in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics.[14]

During his time at Princeton, Song was part of the team that participated in the Putnam Competition. His team won second place in 2016[15] and third place in 2017.[16]

Song was previously a Quantitative Researcher at Citadel LLC.[17] As of 2022, he is a graduate student at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign.[18] He also has been lead coach for the Canadian IMO team since 2020.[19]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2012. Team Biographies. Canadian Mathematical Society.
  2. Web site: Casey. Liam. 27 July 2015. Canadian math whiz wins international competition. 25 November 2021. CTVNews. en.
  3. Web site: International. Radio Canada. 27 July 2015. Alex Song tops International Math Olympiad. 25 November 2021. RCI English. en-US.
  4. Web site: 15 July 2010. Calgary mathlete brings home gold. CBC News.
  5. News: Kilkenny. Carmel. 29 July 2015. Alex Song and the Canadian Math Team. Radio Canada International. 27 November 2021.
  6. Web site: Hall of Fame. 27 November 2021. International Mathematics Olympiad.
  7. News: 27 May 2015. Winners of the 2015 USA Mathematical Olympiad Announced. Mathematics Association of America. 27 November 2021.
  8. Web site: Alex Song '15 Breaks IMO Record with Five Golds . 21 July 2015. Phillips Exeter Academy . 28 November 2021.
  9. Web site: Canada's mathletes ninth in the world at math Olympiad in South Africa . Hammer . Kate . 16 July 2014 . The Globe and Mail . 28 November 2021.
  10. Web site: Three American High Schoolers Swept An International Competition By Crushing These Math Problems . Hickey . Walt . 14 August 2013 . Business Insider . 28 November 2021.
  11. Web site: 53rd International Mathematical Olympiad Mar del Plata, Argentina — July 4 – 16, 2012 . Canadian Mathematical Society . 28 November 2021.
  12. Web site: 52nd International Mathematical Olympiad Amsterdam, Netherlands — July 16 – 24, 2011 . Canadian Mathematical Society . 28 November 2021.
  13. Web site: 51st International Mathematical Olympiad Astana, Kazakhstan — July 5 – 14, 2010 . Canadian Mathematical Society . 28 November 2021.
  14. Web site: Congratulations Class of 2019! Math. 25 November 2021. www.math.princeton.edu.
  15. Web site: 2016 results.
  16. Web site: 2017 results.
  17. Web site: Six Top Mathletes Selected for Math Team Canada 2021. 27 November 2021. CMS-SMC. en-US.
  18. Web site: IDEA MATH . 19 November 2022 . ideamath.education.
  19. Web site: International Mathematical Olympiad . 19 November 2022 . www.imo-official.org.