Indian-origin prodigy wins gold again at world’s toughest programming contest

In a remarkable display of coding prowess, Indian-origin teenager Agastya Goel secured a gold medal for the USA at the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI), held in Egypt. The prestigious competition, often hailed as the world’s toughest for high school students, saw Goel clinch the fourth overall position.

This marks Goel’s second gold at the IOI, a testament to his exceptional programming skills. The 17-year-old, son of Stanford professor Ashish Goel, outshone hundreds of talented competitors from around the globe. His impressive score of 438.97 out of 600 placed him among the top contenders.

Goel’s achievement echoes his father’s own academic brilliance, as Ashish Goel had topped the IIT-JEE entrance exam in 1990.

Goel’s success highlights the growing talent pool of Indian-origin students in the field of computer science and programming.

His father, Ashish Goel took to X  “Team USA won four medals again at #ioi2024 -- congratulations Agastya, Brian, Rain, Rohin and thanks to all the coaches”

What is the Olympiad in Informatics?

The International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) is an annual programming competition for secondary school students that aims to encourage interest in computer science and information technology. The IOI is one of five International Science Olympiads, and was started by UNESCO in May 1989.

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