WASHINGTON, DC (May 24, 2021) — This spring, Team USA participated in the European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad (EGMO) and earned second place, with each student also earning a gold medal for their individual performance. The EGMO is an international mathematics competition focused on gathering teams of four young women from countries around the world to engage in a two-day competition.
Typically, this competition is held in rotating European countries. However, the 2021 competition was completely virtual due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Participating in this year’s virtual olympiad, the US team included Serena An, 18; Yunseo Choi, 19; Sanjana Das, 17; and Jessica Wan, 14. This incredible team was led by equally impressive team leaders Rachel Zhang and Meghal Gupta. Both leaders helped prepare the team as well as support pre-competition engagements.
This year’s EGMO saw tight competition amongst the 55 teams. The US team’s second-place accomplishment surpassed their fourth-place title at the 2020 Olympiad. Along with an improved team performance this year, the US team was only 20 points behind Russia’s first-place team. On top of improved overall performance, the US team celebrated the return of several teammates including Sanjana Das’ second time participating in the EGMO.
The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) supports the growth of the EGMO teams through the American Mathematics Competition (AMC) each year by selecting the team members from AMC participants. Included in the MAA’s support, each of the team members were winners in the Young Women in Mathematics Awards & Certificates program. Their accomplishments for the Young Women in Mathematics program include:
Serena An, AMC 12 B Prize Winner
Yunseo Choi, AMC 12 A Certificate Winner, AMC 12 B Certificate Winner
Sanjana Das, AMC 12 A Certificate Winner
Jessica Wan, AMC 10 A Prize Winner, AMC 10 B Prize Winner
“We’re so incredibly proud of our EGMO team and their win. It is wonderful to see that our EGMO team were all also winners of the Young Women in Mathematics Program,” said Jennifer Barton, Director of the American Mathematics Competition. “The girls are already emerging as strong leaders in the math community and we can’t wait to see what they’ll accomplish next.”
The MAA is consistently working to celebrate the achievements of young women in the mathematical field and looks forward to recognizing more young women in the 2021-2022 AMC cycle and the 2022 EGMO in Hungary.
About MAA
The Mathematical Association of America is the world’s largest community of mathematicians, students, and enthusiasts. We accelerate the understanding of our world through mathematics because mathematics drives society and shapes our lives. Learn more at maa.org.
