Zhuo Qun Song
{{Short description|Chinese-Canadian IMO contestant}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Zhuo Qun Song
| image = Zhuo Qun (Alex) Song.jpg
| caption = Song in 2015
| native_name = 宋卓群
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1997}}
| birth_place = Tianjin, People's Republic of China
| nationality = Canadian
| other_names = Alex
| known_for = Most highly decorated IMO contestant with 5 golds and 1 bronze medal
| alma_mater = Princeton University
Phillips Exeter Academy
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| c = 宋卓群
| p = Sòng Zhuōqún
| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|s|ong|4|-|zh|uo|1|.|q|vn|2}}
}}
Zhuo Qun Song ({{zh|c=宋卓群|p=Sòng Zhuōqún}}; born 1997), also called Alex Song, is a Chinese-born Canadian who is currently the most highly decorated International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) contestant, with five gold medals and one bronze medal.
Early life
Song was born in Tianjin, China in 1997.{{Cite web|date=2012|title=Team Biographies|url=https://www2.cms.math.ca/opsmedia/imo/resources/Student_Bios_2.pdf|website=Canadian Mathematical Society}} He and his parents moved to Canada in 2002. Song was brought up in Waterloo, Ontario.{{Cite web|last=Casey|first=Liam|date=27 July 2015|title=Canadian math whiz wins international competition|url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/canadian-math-whiz-wins-international-competition-1.2489083|access-date=25 November 2021|website=CTVNews|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=International|first=Radio Canada|date=27 July 2015|title=Alex Song tops International Math Olympiad|url=https://www.rcinet.ca/en/2015/07/27/alex-song-tops-international-math-olympiad/|access-date=25 November 2021|website=RCI {{!}} English|language=en-US}}
Song was interested in mathematics at a very young age where he started participating in competitions in first grade. By fourth grade, Song was participating in competitions such as the Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge and the American Mathematics Competitions. In fifth grade, Song became interested in solving Olympiad type questions and started training to solve them.
In 2011, Song moved to the United States to attend Phillips Exeter Academy.
International Mathematical Olympiad
In 2010, when Song was in the seventh grade, he represented Vincent Massey Secondary School in the Canadian Mathematical Olympiad where he finished first place.{{Cite web|date=15 July 2010|title=Calgary mathlete brings home gold|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-mathlete-brings-home-gold-1.955834|website=CBC News}}
In the same year, Song represented Canada in the 2010 IMO where he won a bronze medal. He would continue to represent Canada for 5 subsequent IMOs where he obtained a gold medal each time. He obtained a perfect score on his final run in 2015, the only contestant to do so that year.{{Cite news|last=Kilkenny|first=Carmel|date=29 July 2015|title=Alex Song and the Canadian Math Team|work=Radio Canada International|url=https://www.rcinet.ca/en/2015/07/29/alex-song-and-the-canadian-math-team/|access-date=27 November 2021}} The performances made Song the most decorated contestant of all time.{{Cite web|title=Hall of Fame|url=https://www.imo-official.org/hall.aspx|access-date=27 November 2021|website=International Mathematics Olympiad}} In 2015, Song was also one of the twelve top scorers of the United States of America Mathematical Olympiad, representing Phillips Exeter Academy.{{Cite news|date=27 May 2015|title=Winners of the 2015 USA Mathematical Olympiad Announced|work=Mathematics Association of America|url=https://www.maa.org/news/winners-of-the-2015-usa-mathematical-olympiad-announced|access-date=27 November 2021}}
= Results =
Post-IMO
Song graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 2015.
Song attended Princeton University where he graduated in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics.{{Cite web|title=Congratulations Class of 2019! {{!}} Math|url=https://www.math.princeton.edu/news/congratulations-class-2019|access-date=25 November 2021|website=www.math.princeton.edu}}
During his time at Princeton, Song was part of the team that participated in the Putnam Competition. His team won second place in 2016{{Cite web|title=2016 results|url=https://kskedlaya.org/putnam-archive/putnam2016results.html}} and third place in 2017.{{Cite web|title=2017 results|url=https://kskedlaya.org/putnam-archive/putnam2017results.html}}
Song was previously a Quantitative Researcher at Citadel LLC.{{Cite web|title=Six Top Mathletes Selected for Math Team Canada 2021|url=https://cms.math.ca/news-item/six-top-mathletes-selected-for-math-team-canada-2021/|access-date=27 November 2021|website=CMS-SMC|language=en-US}} As of 2022, he is a graduate student at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign.{{Cite web |title=IDEA MATH |url=https://ideamath.education/landing/staff |access-date=19 November 2022 |website=ideamath.education}} He also has been lead coach for the Canadian IMO team since 2020.{{Cite web |title=International Mathematical Olympiad |url=https://www.imo-official.org/country_team_r.aspx?code=CAN |access-date=19 November 2022 |website=www.imo-official.org}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMO results |id=19624 }}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Song, Zhuo Qun}}
Category:Chinese emigrants to Canada
Category:International Mathematical Olympiad participants
Category:Canadian people of Chinese descent
Category:Phillips Exeter Academy alumni