Historic medals for Saudi Arabia and Chongqing
At the 38th International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI 2026) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, both Saudi Arabia and Chongqing recorded first-time medal achievements. Saudi Arabia captured its first-ever silver medal, while Chongqing produced its first-ever gold and silver at the competition, according to reports published on the prior news day.
Saudi team results and record
The Saudi Informatics Team finished with three awards at IOI 2026, including the Kingdom's first silver medal. Mohammed Nasser Al-Asmari, from the Education Department at the Royal Commission for Jubail, won silver; Sultan Abdulrahman Al-Aiban, from the General Directorate of Education in Riyadh, took bronze; and Saad Bandar Al-Arifi, also from Riyadh's education directorate, received a certificate of merit. With these results, Saudi Arabia's cumulative IOI record stands at 14 awards: one silver, eight bronze, and five certificates of merit, compared with one bronze and two certificates of merit in 2025.
Chongqing's gold and silver
Two students from Chongqing made history for their city. Liu Jiawei from Chongqing Bashu Secondary School won gold, becoming the first IOI gold medalist from Chongqing. He Yuxiang from Chongqing Nankai (Rongqiao) Secondary School won silver. According to the official final rankings, Liu placed 13th worldwide with 409.56 points, while He placed 38th. China's four-member team claimed three gold medals and one silver, with Xu Qiwen of Nanjing Foreign Language School topping the leaderboard at 498.27 points and Zhao Shenghao of Zhejiang Jinhua No. 1 High School finishing third.
Path to the podium
Liu's preparation followed a steady progression: a 2024 NOI silver as a freshman, a 2025 NOI gold that earned him early admission to Peking University, and selection to China's IOI team in February 2026. His coach, Huang Xinjun, said Liu scored perfectly on the hardest third problem in the final half hour of day two, lifting him from beyond 50th place to 13th overall. He Yuxiang began systematic informatics training in his first year of middle school, achieved a perfect score at the National Olympiad in Informatics League in his third year, and later won NOI gold and a place in the national training camp, securing admission to Tsinghua University.
Olympiad structure and next edition
The IOI 2026 ran from August 9 to 15 (the Saudi report cites August 9 to 16) and brought together roughly 386–400 contestants from more than 90 countries and regions. Competitors solve individual algorithmic and programming tasks over two five-hour competition days, with problems covering algorithm design, data structures, and program implementation. First held in Bulgaria in 1989 under UNESCO's auspices, the IOI is one of five major international science Olympiads. The organizing committee announced the next edition will be hosted in Germany.
What remains uncertain
The Saudi report says the Olympiad ran August 9–16, while the Chinese report states August 9–15 and lists the closing day as the prior Saturday in Tashkent. Full per-contestant scores beyond the cited leaders were not available in the source set, and no official IOI 2026 ranking document was referenced.
Share this article
