Following the International Mathematical Olympiad in Shanghai, eyes are now on Budapest: in 2027, the Hungarian capital will host the competition, with HUN-REN Alfréd Rényi Institute of Mathematics serving as main organizer.
With the conclusion of the 2026 International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in Shanghai, young mathematics enthusiasts are already looking at the next competition. The Hungarian capital will welcome the world’s brightest young mathematicians for the 68th International Mathematical Olympiad, taking place from 16 to 26 July 2027. HUN-REN Alfréd Rényi Institute of Mathematics is main organizer of the event.
At the closing ceremony in Shanghai, the official IMO flag was formally handed over to Hungary as the next host country. The official promotional video for the 2027 competition was also unveiled. The video can be viewed HERE on the official website of next year’s Olympiad or HERE on YT.
The International Mathematical Olympiad is the world’s largest and most prestigious mathematics competition for high school students. This year’s Olympiad in Shanghai brought together 666 contestants from 117 countries. The competition itself will also be at the heart of the ten-day programme in Budapest: over two days, participants will spend two sessions of four and a half hours each working on three problems per session.
The International Mathematical Olympiad began as a Central and Eastern European initiative and has since grown into the world’s most prestigious mathematics competition for high school students. Every year, the most talented young mathematicians from more than 100 countries come together not to solve textbook exercises, but to tackle challenging problems that require creative thinking, independence, and often unconventional ideas. The first IMO was held in 1959 in Brașov, Romania, with just seven participating countries – Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, the German Democratic Republic, Romania, the Soviet Union and Hungary – and 52 contestants. Hungarian teams quickly established themselves among the world’s strongest. In 1961, Hungary hosted the competition for the first time, in Veszprém, with only six countries and 48 contestants taking part. On that occasion, the Hungarian team finished in first place. Hungary has continued to achieve outstanding results ever since. According to the official IMO database, Hungarian contestants have so far won 91 gold, 178 silver and 121 bronze medals. On 24 occasions, a Hungarian contestant has achieved a perfect score. |
Hungary has hosted the competition three times so far: in Veszprém in 1961, followed by Keszthely in 1970 and Budapest in 1982. After 45 years, the Hungarian capital will once again welcome the IMO.
For the 2027 event, we are expecting around 650 students from more than 110 countries, along with team leaders, accompanying adults and organizers. For Rényi Institute, hosting the Olympiad represents both international recognition and a major organizational undertaking, as the event is a competition, a shared experience and an international gathering at the same time.
At the head of the organizing team is one of Hungary’s most experienced participants in the International Mathematical Olympiad. Dávid Kunszenti-Kovács, a senior research fellow at Rényi Institute, was born in Norway and was selected for the Norwegian IMO team as early as the age of 11, going on to compete for the country for seven years. He later served as a team leader and, when the IMO was held in Norway in 2022, as a member of the organizing team. Now, the responsibility for the 2027 Budapest Olympiad rests on his shoulders: overseeing the ten-day stay of some 1,300 guests, including their accommodation and transportation, as well as preparing and running the competition itself. In this interview (asked by Hungarian talk radio Trend FM), Dávid Kunszenti-Kovács discusses the preparations for the 2027 IMO and the challenges involved in organizing an event of this scale.
The IMO quickly grew beyond Central and Eastern Europe. In 1964, Mongolia became the first non-European participant, and an increasing number of countries joined in the years that followed. The United States hosted the IMO in 1981, Australia in 1988, and in 1990 China became the first Asian country to host the competition. In 2014, the IMO reached the African continent for the first time, with South Africa serving as host. Meanwhile, the number of participants continued to grow steadily. From the ten countries that took part in the 1960s, participation had increased to 14 countries and 112 contestants at the 1970 IMO in Keszthely. By the 1982 Budapest IMO, 30 countries and 119 contestants took part, while in 2009 the number of participating countries surpassed 100 for the first time. Under the current rules, each country may send a team of six students. |
Hungary has a remarkably strong tradition in mathematical Olympiads, and many former Olympians have gone on to become internationally recognized mathematicians. Rényi Institute is also home to numerous researchers who achieved success in these mathematics competitions as students.
The Hungarian team returned from Shanghai with an especially impressive result this year: all six contestants won medals. At the 67th International Mathematical Olympiad, Ábel Szakács from Fazekas Mihály Practice School and High School in Budapest won a gold medal, while Bendegúz Péter Vámosi from Fazekas Mihály High School in Debrecen took silver. Péter Aravin from Ithaca High School, Martin Holló from Fazekas High School, Budapest, Mátyás Bodor from Márton Áron High School in Miercurea Ciuc and Zalán Vigh from Miklós Radnóti Experimental High School in Szeged each won bronze medals. In the unofficial team competition involving all 117 participating countries, the Hungarian team achieved an impressive 16th place. The team was led by Géza Kós, with Sándor Dobos serving as deputy leader as well as overseeing the students’ preparation.
The top ten included seven Asian countries, alongside the United States, Russia and the United Kingdom. The British team’s top performer, Alex Chui, won his fifth gold medal, putting him at the top of the IMO’s all-time individual medal table. This was his seventh appearance at the competition, matching the record set by Dávid Kunszenti-Kovács, mentioned above, who also competed seven times, representing Norway, and won the Nordic country’s first-ever gold medal in 2002.
The 2027 Budapest IMO also has its own visual identity. At the heart of the event’s logo is Gömböc, the remarkable geometric object discovered by Gábor Domokos and Péter Várkonyi. The Gömböc is both a reference to Hungary and a symbol of mathematics, connecting Hungarian science, geometric thinking and the creativity that is essential to solving IMO problems.
Internationally, the IMO is regarded not only as a prestigious competition, but also as a highly effective environment for nurturing mathematical talent. The experience gained through the competition – learning to approach difficult problems independently, developing the ability to construct rigorous proofs, and persevering in the face of challenging problems – has provided many participants with an important foundation for their later scientific careers.
Hosting the 2027 IMO is a major international task for Hungary and Rényi Institute, while also offering an opportunity to further strengthen Hungary’s tradition of mathematical talent development and further raise the international profile of Hungarian mathematics. For Rényi Institute, taking on this role is a natural choice: as Hungary’s key international center for mathematical research, the Institute has long played an important role in supporting young mathematicians and building international professional networks, both through its researchers and through its Erdős Center. Read about Erdos Center more in THIS article or visit Erdos Center's official website HERE.
The symbolic handover of the IMO flag in Shanghai marked the beginning of the road to Budapest: in the summer of 2027, the world’s most talented high school mathematicians will come to Hungary to compete against one another. In addition to the relevant Hungarian government body, XTX Markets has again joined the initiative as principal sponsor.
| XTX Markets is a leading algorithmic trading firm that uses machine learning to produce price forecasts for more than 50,000 financial instruments. Mathematics is central to their work, and the company is strongly committed to supporting exceptional mathematical talent worldwide and accelerating breakthrough research. XTX Markets has been principal sponsor of IMO 2024, IMO 2025 and will be for IMO 2027. The firm’s wider philanthropic commitments support Olympiad coaching programmes globally, and offer Olympiad medallists full, charitable scholarships to study at world-leading universities. Since 2020, XTX Markets has committed more than £400m to charities and good causes, establishing the firm as one of the UK’s largest donors. |