Hills Twins head to Maths Olympiad
Twin sisters Cloris Xu and Iris Xu from Baulkham Hills High are heading to Georgia next month to compete in the 2024 European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad (ENGMO).
The Year 12 students make up half of the Australian team competing in Georgia in a mathematics Olympic-style competition. The ENGMO is a mathematical and problem-solving global contest where teams of four young women compete to win the prestigious title.
Host country Georgia is over 13,000km away and will be holding the Mathematics Olympic event from the 11th-17th April.
This will be Australia’s 7th year represented in the global competition, and the third year that Cloris and Iris have entered. The other two Australian team members this year are Amber Lee from Pymble Ladies College and Laura Nan from Fintona Girls School, Victoria.
Iris, who has won third place in the past two years, said: “My passion for mathematics stems from a keen interest in problem-solving and understanding its impact on the world.
“I find satisfaction in overcoming challenging problems, and exploring the positive influence such skills can have on society. The possibility of meeting people [at EGMO] who share the same interest as me is exciting, and it’s also great to have a chance to form lasting connections that extend beyond the event”.
Her sister Cloris also shares a passion for problem solving and finds the process of problem-solving complex mathematical problems very rewarding, wants to apply it to future issues such as climate change.
As both sisters are in Year 12, this will be their last year of participating in the ENGMO, but Cloris looks forward to the opportunity of meeting like-minded young women and hearing their perspectives on mathematics.
Both sisters were recognised for their mathematical excellence by the Australian Mathematical Olympiad Committee (AMOC) in 2022. In addition, Iris won the gold medal consecutively for two years as well as two bronze medals in the Asian Pacific Mathematical Olympiad in 2022 and 2023.
Head Mathematics Teacher at Baulkham High School, Jason Ribbans, praised the girls for their dedication and living out their school values; “Since arriving at the school, the girls have demonstrated excellence in their study of mathematics”.
“Both Cloris and Iris enjoy a challenge and thoroughly deserve this opportunity. As a school community, we could not be prouder of their effort and achievements.”
CEO of the Australian Maths Trust, Nathan Ford, who announced this years’ team also congratulated the four team members for their contribution to mathematics.
“While our teams always want to perform their best for the competition, EGMO is about so much more – a chance for young women to meet their international peers and form relationships that will last a lifetime. Above all, after the hard work they’ve all put in, it’s time for Amber, Cloris, Iris and Laura to have fun and enjoy the challenge and inspiration of mathematical problem-solving.”
