ST. PETERSBURG -- Nadezhda Petukhova, 17, is not only the first girl to compete for Russia in the International Math Olympiad since 1998; she also walked away with a gold medal.
At the close of the event, held in Athens July 9-18, Petukhova received her gold medal from Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis, who told her, "I'm so glad that you're a girl."
The overwhelming majority of the contestants -- 84 countries entered teams of six -- were male. Only four students succeeded in answering all 42 questions correctly.
Petukhova, a St. Petersburg student, answered most of her questions correctly, finishing in the top 20 in the individual rankings. In the national contest, Russia came in third, after China and the United States.
Petukhova's road to the gold medal was not easy. Her teachers did not understand why she was concentrating on math, even though the school where she studied is associated with the Academy of Sciences and specializes in physics and technology.
A classmate of hers, Sasha Safronova, said the school made life difficult for Petukhova, asking her to retake all her tests upon returning from the All-Russian Olympiad.
"She graduated from school with threes in some subjects," Safronova said. "Nadya's victory was no surprise for us. We are just sorry that she was rarely at school."
Petukhova is no stranger to mathematics: Her parents and elder brother are mathematicians. "Nobody asked me if I liked it or not," she said. "My parents just submerged me in math."
In some ways, her preparation for Athens began when Petukhova was in fifth grade. She entered district, city and national mathematics Olympiads, and earned a place on the IMO team.
At 11, she was part of a rigorous competitive math course at a St. Petersburg school. When she started, there were three study groups of 30 pupils each. In the end, only 10 students passed the course.
Competitors in the math Olympiad get no state subsidies, but those who compete at the national and international levels receive 2,000 rubles ($70) per month from the Potanin Fund, provided that their grades remain high.
Travel costs are defrayed by regional and federal governments, Petukhova said, though competitors' parents usually end up with a considerable bill.
Her victory at the IMO was not so much a matter of good luck as of planning, Petukhova said.
"We worked a lot," she said. "It was largely thanks to our teachers, Dmitry Rostovsky and Sergei Berlov. I couldn't let them down. And now they can be proud of us. We really have a very powerful team."
Although the preparation involved a lot of hard work, Petukhova does have several interests outside mathematics. She dances, graduated with top grades from a music school and studies languages (English, French and German).
"I need to fill my life with something," she said. "Math is the thing that I know and do well. It's like a job. I don't feel sorry that I do it. But if there were no math, there would be biology or something else."
But math has been at the forefront of her life, especially when preparing for this most recent competition.
A St. Petersburg team had bad results last year and it was important to show that Russia deserved its medals. This year, Russian team members won four gold medals, one silver and one bronze.
Elite mathematics education in Russia is acknowledged around the world. At the Olympiad, several non-Russian teams were comprised of children whose parents had emigrated from Russia.
"I felt like I was in Russia," Petukhova said of the IMO. "Almost every team had Russian participants."
Oleg Golberg, who represented the U.S. team, had twice previously competed for Russia, a fact that made many Russian team members uneasy. But this just spoke to the global nature of mathematics.
Petukhova and her parents see IMO as a good chance of getting a mathematics job abroad. However, Petukhova said, "In the meantime, I'm here and I don't know what will happen. For me IMO is just another step."
She has since left St. Petersburg to study at Moscow State University, which invited her to join its mechanic-mathematical department. "My parents tried to persuade me to stay in St. Petersburg, but I chose Moscow," she said. "There are more ways to find a good job and to make a career there."
On Aug. 9, she and two other girls will leave to compete for Russia in the All-Chinese Women's Math Olympiad, hoping to garner more honors.
At the close of the event, held in Athens July 9-18, Petukhova received her gold medal from Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis, who told her, "I'm so glad that you're a girl."
The overwhelming majority of the contestants -- 84 countries entered teams of six -- were male. Only four students succeeded in answering all 42 questions correctly.
Petukhova, a St. Petersburg student, answered most of her questions correctly, finishing in the top 20 in the individual rankings. In the national contest, Russia came in third, after China and the United States.
Petukhova's road to the gold medal was not easy. Her teachers did not understand why she was concentrating on math, even though the school where she studied is associated with the Academy of Sciences and specializes in physics and technology.
A classmate of hers, Sasha Safronova, said the school made life difficult for Petukhova, asking her to retake all her tests upon returning from the All-Russian Olympiad.
"She graduated from school with threes in some subjects," Safronova said. "Nadya's victory was no surprise for us. We are just sorry that she was rarely at school."
Petukhova is no stranger to mathematics: Her parents and elder brother are mathematicians. "Nobody asked me if I liked it or not," she said. "My parents just submerged me in math."
In some ways, her preparation for Athens began when Petukhova was in fifth grade. She entered district, city and national mathematics Olympiads, and earned a place on the IMO team.
At 11, she was part of a rigorous competitive math course at a St. Petersburg school. When she started, there were three study groups of 30 pupils each. In the end, only 10 students passed the course.
Competitors in the math Olympiad get no state subsidies, but those who compete at the national and international levels receive 2,000 rubles ($70) per month from the Potanin Fund, provided that their grades remain high.
Travel costs are defrayed by regional and federal governments, Petukhova said, though competitors' parents usually end up with a considerable bill.
Her victory at the IMO was not so much a matter of good luck as of planning, Petukhova said.
"We worked a lot," she said. "It was largely thanks to our teachers, Dmitry Rostovsky and Sergei Berlov. I couldn't let them down. And now they can be proud of us. We really have a very powerful team."
Although the preparation involved a lot of hard work, Petukhova does have several interests outside mathematics. She dances, graduated with top grades from a music school and studies languages (English, French and German).
"I need to fill my life with something," she said. "Math is the thing that I know and do well. It's like a job. I don't feel sorry that I do it. But if there were no math, there would be biology or something else."
But math has been at the forefront of her life, especially when preparing for this most recent competition.
A St. Petersburg team had bad results last year and it was important to show that Russia deserved its medals. This year, Russian team members won four gold medals, one silver and one bronze.
Elite mathematics education in Russia is acknowledged around the world. At the Olympiad, several non-Russian teams were comprised of children whose parents had emigrated from Russia.
"I felt like I was in Russia," Petukhova said of the IMO. "Almost every team had Russian participants."
Oleg Golberg, who represented the U.S. team, had twice previously competed for Russia, a fact that made many Russian team members uneasy. But this just spoke to the global nature of mathematics.
Petukhova and her parents see IMO as a good chance of getting a mathematics job abroad. However, Petukhova said, "In the meantime, I'm here and I don't know what will happen. For me IMO is just another step."
She has since left St. Petersburg to study at Moscow State University, which invited her to join its mechanic-mathematical department. "My parents tried to persuade me to stay in St. Petersburg, but I chose Moscow," she said. "There are more ways to find a good job and to make a career there."
On Aug. 9, she and two other girls will leave to compete for Russia in the All-Chinese Women's Math Olympiad, hoping to garner more honors.
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