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WIZO Student Brings Home Olympic Bronze Medal

Liran Markin of WIZO Nahalal recently won a top medal at this year's prestigious international student science competition.

September 04, 2016

 

לירן מרקין חנתון מדליית ארד

 

Israeli Olympic medalists Or Sasson and Yarden Gerbi are not alone; 18-year-old Liran Markin, a student at WIZO Nahalal high school (sponsored by WIZOuk and CHW), is one of two young Israelis who won medals at the 28th International Olympiad for Informatics (IOI).

Eighty one countries sent delegations to the annual competition in Russia, which ended three weeks ago. The Israeli team, made up of four contestants and trained by Dr. David Ginat of Tel Aviv University, came home with two medals: one silver and Liran's bronze medal. 

This was both Liran's second year as a part of the Israeli IOI Olympic team and his second bronze medal. "We saw Yarden Gerbi's win before we traveled, and Or Sasson's win while we were competing," recalled Liran to an Israeli reporter. "It was very exciting. I think that our team has the same sense of pride, despite the obvious difference in the competitions; we all represent Israel."

Rivka LazovskyChairperson of World WIZO, reacted to the news, "While many of us already know that WIZO schools constantly strive to provide the best education and opportunity to their students, seeing a WIZO student reach academic achievement is still breathtaking and inspiring. I congratulate Liran, WIZO's 2016 Olympian and wish all WIZO students continued success."

The IOI is only one of several international scientific competitions that took place this summer, including the math Olympics in China, physics Olympics in Switzerland, and more. In all, Israeli students brought home 14 medals. Both President Reuven Rivlin and the education minister blessed the Israeli winners.