USA Shines Brightly at 66th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), Securing Second Place

The United States team has once again risen to the top of the world stage, taking an impressive second place at the 66th International Mathematical Olympiad. This is a testament to their growing talent and hard work. This amazing accomplishment, which included five gold medals and one silver medal, shows the country's dedication to promoting excellence in STEM and shows how much potential its young people have. Held Down Under, the competition brought together the brightest young minds from over 100 countries, where the US team's strategic problem-solving and deep mathematical understanding shone brightly, proving that the future of American mathematics is in highly capable hands.

How did the USA IMO Team Secure Second Place?

The USA IMO Team's path to success is a long and selective one that carefully selects and develops the country's best young math minds. The first step is for a lot of people to take part in the American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) series run by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). This is a very important first step. The best students then take harder tests that require proof, such as the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME) and the USA Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO). The best students who do well on these hard tests get an invitation to the very hard Mathematical Olympiad Summer Program (MOP). Every year, students take part in this important program where they get advanced training and advice from experienced coaches. They work on improving their problem-solving and mathematical reasoning skills to the level needed to compete at the International Mathematical Olympiad, which is the biggest math competition in the world. This thorough preparation makes sure that only the most qualified and ready students represent the United States.

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Who were the Rising Stars of US Mathematics at IMO 2025?

The USA team did really well at the 66th International Mathematical Olympiad, and every student won a medal. The things they have done show how talented American teens are at math.

🇺🇸 USA Earns Second Place at 66th InternationalMathematical Olympiad – Mathematical Association of America 🧮 https://t.co/2DwpZ1efbE
The 2025 USA IMO Team members are, left to right:
- Hannah Fox, 17 (California)
- Karn Chutinan, 18 (Massachusetts)
- Andrew Lin, 18 (New Jersey)… pic.twitter.com/Z6QgsV2J1v

— Theory of the Dog (@TheoryoftheDog) July 22, 2025 

How did the USA IMO Team achieve this success?

To get to second place at the IMO, you need to train hard and go through a tough selection process. The US team's journey usually has a few steps, the last of which is a lot of preparation:

• MAA American Mathematics Competitions (AMC): This series of tests given all over the country is the first step in finding thousands of talented students each year.

• American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME) and USA Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO): The best performers from the AMC move on to these proof-based competitions, which get harder and harder and narrow down the field even more.

• Mathematical Olympiad Summer Program (MOP): The best students from these competitions are invited to a summer program that is very intense. With the help of experienced coaches like John Berman and Yang Liu, they work on their problem-solving skills and learn advanced mathematical reasoning that is very important for IMO success. With help from the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) and Jane Street, this year's team got a lot out of this focused training.

What is the International Mathematical Olympiad?

The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is the most important math competition in the world for high school students. It is the oldest of all the International Science Olympiads, having been established in 1959. This well-known event brings together teams of up to six students from more than 100 countries, giving young math talent a chance to shine on a global stage. 

The competition takes place over two intense days, with each participant having to solve three difficult problems each day, each in four and a half hours. Each problem is worth seven points, so a perfect score for one person is 42. The questions cover a wide range of topics in secondary school math, such as algebra, combinatorics, geometry, and number theory. They do not, however, require calculus. 

Gold, silver, or bronze medals are given to individuals based on their scores, and the countries that participate are ranked based on the scores of all their teams. The IMO's main goal, beyond the competition, is to help the smartest young people in math develop their problem-solving skills and make friends with people from other countries.

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The fact that the USA came in second at the 66th International Mathematical Olympiad shows that the country has a lot of great math students and strong schools. This amazing accomplishment by future innovators inspires not only future mathematicians but also shows how important it is to support strong STEM education pathways all over the country.