Iranian students champs of Astronomy Olympiad with 5 golds
Iran’s five-member student team has taken the top spot at the 17th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) in Brazil, winning five gold medals and outshining competitors from 53 countries.
The Iranian team, comprising Hannaneh Khorramdashti, Mohammad-Mehdi Keshavarzi, Arya Fateh-Kerdari, Ali Naderi-Lordjan, and Arvin Rasoulzadeh, participated in the event held in Vassouras, Rio de Janeiro, from August 17 to 27. The team was led by supervisors Hossein Haqqi, Arman Vosouq-Zadeh, and Amir-Hossein Mousavi.
The achievement marks a significant improvement from last year’s competition in Poland, where Iran ranked third after winning three gold and two silver medals. Britain and India took the top two spots in the 16th IOAA, with the US, Brazil, Bulgaria, Romania, Germany, and Canada following Iran in the ranking.
In the 15th IOAA, held in Georgia in 2022, Iran ranked first in the world. The IOAA is one of the twelve International Science Olympiads, founded by five countries (Thailand, Indonesia, Iran, China, and Poland) in 2007.
The competition aims to foster interest in astronomy and astrophysics among young people from participating countries, as well as to strengthen ties between different nations and promote the exchange of scientific and cultural knowledge and experiences.
In this year’s event, over 250 students from 53 countries participated. The top-ranking countries after Iran were the United States, Romania, Canada, Singapore, Britain, Germany, Hungary, India, and Thailand.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian congratulated the team on their victory, saying, “I congratulate the scientific community and the people of Iran on this achievement. Our five Iranian stars have brought honor to our country. We are proud of them.”
Pezeshkian dropped some lines on his X account to express his pride, saying, “I congratulate the scientific community and the people of Iran on this achievement. Our five Iranian stars, Hannaneh Khorramdashti, Arya Fateh-Kerdari, Arvin Rasoulzadeh, Mohammad-Mehdi Keshavarzi, and Ali Naderi-Lordjan, have brought honor to our country. We are proud of you all.”