Iran wins three golds, two silvers at International Physics Olympiad
Iranian team shines at world's premier high school physics competition as country's students continue a string of strong performances in global science Olympiads
TEHRAN, Iran (MNTV) — Iran’s national physics Olympiad team won three gold medals and two silver medals at the 56th International Physics Olympiad (IPhO 2026), one of the world’s most prestigious science competitions for high school students.
The Olympiad, held from July 4 to 12 in Bucaramanga, Colombia, brought together more than 400 students from over 90 countries.
Hirbod Foudazi, Kian Zarabian and Mohammad Mirmohammadi captured gold medals for Iran, while Nima Koushki and Amirsam Goharpi earned silver medals.
Foudazi was the competition’s highest-ranked contestant after recording the top score in the theoretical examinations.
The results add to Iran’s long-standing record of strong performances in international academic Olympiads.
Earlier this week, Iran’s national mathematics Olympiad team won the fourth International Mathematics Competition of Shanghai (IMSC 2026), finishing first among 49 teams after collecting four gold medals and two silver medals, ahead of Poland and Brazil.
Iran has also remained a consistent performer at the International Mathematical Olympiad. At the 66th edition of the competition, held in Australia in 2025, the Iranian team finished 12th overall with two gold medals, three silver medals and one bronze medal, improving from 19th place a year earlier.
The country’s success has extended to biology as well. At the 36th International Biology Olympiad in the Philippines in 2025, Iranian students won three gold medals and one silver medal to finish second overall among 81 participating countries, improving on their third-place finish at the 2024 competition in Kazakhstan.
The series of international achievements has coincided with growing domestic interest in academic Olympiads. According to Reza Hosseini, head of Iran’s Young Scholars Club, participation in the country’s national Olympiad competitions increased 40% year over year, rising from 87,000 students in the Iranian year 1403 (March 2024 to March 2025) to 121,000 in 1404 (March 2025 to March 2026).
Hosseini said the figure represents the highest level of participation in a decade and reflects growing interest among Iranian students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
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