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Running, long jump, shot put, javelin, boxing and equestrian events were almost all that were on offer when the Olympic Games began in ancient Greece about 3000 years ago.

“If they were alive today, the Greek mathematicians Euclid and Pythagoras would probably be delighted to know that The University of Western Australia has its own version of the old games,” UWA’s Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics, Professor Cheryl Praeger, said.

Its competitors, bright Year Nine and outstanding Year Eight students, rely on brain power rather than muscle power to get them through.

More than 200 of the State’s best young mathematicians from over 25 schools will decipher complex mathematical and statistical problems in the WA Junior Mathematics Olympiad at the University on Saturday, October 27.

High schools are invited to enter teams of four students to compete for $1600 in prizes in several categories. Sponsors of the Junior Olympiad are the departments of Mathematics and Statistics at UWA, Curtin University of Technology, Edith Cowan University, the Mathematical Association of WA, the WA Department of Education and Training, Data Analysis Australia and New Edition Bookshop. The top Year Nine competitor will win $100 courtesy of UWA while the $100 Phill Schultz prize will be awarded to the best student in the Mathematics Challenge and Olympiad activities.

Students with the best results also receive an invitation to take part in the UWA Academy for Young Mathematicians.

Organising committee chairperson, UWA’s Professor Cheryl Praeger, said the competition showed students how much fun maths could be.

“It also provides opportunities for skills development and recognition of outstanding achievers,” she said.

Registration costs $8 per student and closes on October 15. More information is available on the website: https://www.maths.uwa.edu.au/students/high-school-students/olympiad

Media references

Professor Cheryl Praeger 61 8 6488 3344

Danni Wick 61 8 6488 2260

Simone Hewett / Sally-Ann Jones 61 8 6488 7977
(UWA Public Affairs) 0420 790 097 / 0420 790 098