Bulgarian student Viktor Lilov is the only European in the top 10 of the International Biology Olympiad (IBO) for 2024, BTA reported.
With the gold medal won by the IBO - 2024, he recorded a world achievement: Victor is the only one in the world for the entire history of the Olympiads to win gold medals from the two most prestigious international competitions in biology and chemistry - the International Biology Olympiad and the International Chemistry Olympiad, announced the Association of Olympic Science Teams.
Viktor achieved the unprecedented double after winning a gold medal at the International Chemistry Olympiad in Switzerland 2023, where students from 88 countries participated, and just days ago he also won a gold medal at the International Biology Olympiad in Kazakhstan, where representatives competed to 81 countries. Victor also has gold from the International Mendeleev Olympiad in 2024, and with that he has three gold medals from the three strongest competitions in the world in chemistry and biology.
It is rare worldwide to have Olympiads in more than one science. The level of the major international Olympiads is much higher than the school level and the preparation requires years of hard work. Winning a medal in two disciplines is an extraordinary achievement, and two gold medals is a unique phenomenon, the association notes.
In just a few days, Victor will participate in the 2024 International Chemistry Olympiad in Saudi Arabia. If he wins gold there, he will build on his own world record and make it even harder for future generations to better it.
Who is Viktor Lilov?
Viktor started studying biology in the sixth grade, and from the seventh grade he participated in the national Olympiad in biology and health education. His curiosity was awakened by his teacher Miglena Georgieva from the Sofia Mathematical High School (SMG). In addition to the members of the national commission and the team leaders Prof. Dr. Albena Yordanova, chief assistant Dr. Radoslav Alexandrov, doctoral student Teodor Trifonov, Zdravko Ivanov, recent medalist in linguistics and biology, bachelor of " ;St Andrews" in Great Britain and currently a master's degree in the Faculty of Biology of Sofia University.
Victor discovered his interest in chemistry in the ninth grade, when he participated in the national rounds of the Olympiad. The teacher who ignites it is Boris Tolev from SMG. In addition to the members of the national commission and the team leaders, Assoc. Dr. Donka Tasheva, Prof. Dr. Penka Vaslileva, Assoc. Dr. Hristo Chanev, Chief Assistant Dr. Daniela Tsekova, Evgeni Statelov, gold medalist in chemistry, contributed to Victor's preparation, and currently MA in Bayreuth, Germany.
Viktor is the only Bulgarian student who twice in a row (in 2023 and 2024) reached the participation in the national teams of Bulgaria in both chemistry and biology, and won medals at international Olympiads. He is also our best 2023 Olympian from all the International Science Olympiads. In 2024, Victor has the best result in the country in chemistry and biology - both in the national and in the selection round.
Victor's highest world Olympic honors to date are a gold medal at the 2024 International Biology Olympiad; gold medal from the International Mendeleev Olympiad for 2024; 2023 International Chemistry Olympiad gold medal; silver medal at the 2023 International Biology Olympiad; silver medal from the 2023 International Mendeleev Chemistry Olympiad; at the International Olympiad in Chemistry - part of the national team, to appear.
This year, 17-year-old Viktor Lilov graduated from SMG, with the legendary mathematics teacher Ivan Simeonov as his class teacher. Victor will continue his education in Cambridge, Trinity College, majoring in Natural Sciences. In one of the best universities in the world, he was attracted by one of the top five scientists of organic chemistry - Prof. Stephen W. Lay. In the autumn, Victor will begin to follow in the footsteps of scientists from Trinity College, Cambridge, who have been awarded 34 Nobel Prizes (out of a total of 121 received by members of the University of Cambridge). Members of the College have received four Fields Medals, one Turing Award; and one "Abel" award. Trinity alumni include the father of empiricism Francis Bacon, six British prime ministers, physicists - Isaac Newton, James Clerk Maxwell, Ernest Rutherford and Niels Bohr, mathematicians - Srinivasa Ramanujan and Charles Babbage, poets - Lord Byron and Lord Tennyson, writers - Vladimir Nabokov and A.A. Milne, historians - Lord Macaulay and G. M. Trevelyan, and philosophers - Ludwig Wittgenstein, Bertrand Russell and G. E. Moore.
How are the participants in the Bulgarian national teams for the academic subject Olympiads determined?
The Olympians in the Bulgarian national teams are selected from among the best-ranked participants of the National Round of the respective Olympiads, after which they pass an intensive selection round of the expanded national team, and after the national team is determined, they are further prepared by teachers in the various fields of each science.
In international school science Olympiads, the best representatives of each country participate after a national selection, and usually about half of the participants receive medals.
The International Chemistry Olympiad is the most prestigious school chemistry competition in the world. It was organized for the first time in 1968 in Czechoslovakia, and Bulgaria joined even then as an observer, and as a regular participant country - from the following year, 1969, in Poland. On average, more than 340 students from more than 85 countries take part in the International Olympiad. All rankings over the years are posted here.
The International Biology Olympiad is the most prestigious biology competition for students from around the world. Bulgaria is one of the six countries that founded the Olympiad in 1989. Every year, the Biology Olympiad gathers over 300 students from over 80 countries.