Two silver medals at the IOI 2008 in Cairo!

With two silver medals the team achieved the best result in the history of the SOI!

Ruben Andrist
News

Four Swiss information science students hoping for Olympic Gold in Cairo, Egypt! The Swiss delegation to the Olympiad in Informatics departed on Saturday 16th of August from Geneva. Switzerland is represented at this international event by

  • Johannes Josi (17) from Unterseen (BE)
  • Vladimir Serbinenko (19) from Villarimboud (FR)
  • Adrian Roos (17) from Schüpfen (BE)
  • Sebastien Vasey (18) from Grand-Saconnex (GE) Among over 350 students from 80 different countries they are competing for top ranks and an Olympic title in the land of the pyramids.

Saturday, 16th of August

Our flight to Cairo left Geneva around 3pm and we finally arrived only shortly before midnight at the official competition site. Unfortunately, food was only served until 10pm, therefore we went to bed hungry. We are looking forward to tomorrow’s grand opening ceremony. In the afternoon we will have a chance to get to know the contest system during the practice session and spend some free time at the Golf Alsolimania Park. The tight schedule has us getting up around seven in the morning - we should get to bed soon to be well rested.

Tuesday, 19th of August

Yesterday was the first competition day. There was one really hard task, and it was (to our surprise) very cold in the examination room. In the afternoon we got the results: We got about 35k points, where k is an integer between 1 and 4. After that, we ate dinner on a boat on the Nile.

Today we visited the pyramids. They were really impressive! Now, some of us will watch an IMAX movie or play paintball.

Friday, 22nd of August

After the good results of the second contest, we were hoping for medals at today’s closing ceremony. And our hopes were fulfilled: With two silver medals the team achieved the best result in the history of the SOI! Needless to say the medallists are thrilled about their success: Both

  • Johannes Josi (17) from Unterseen (BE) and
  • Vladimir Serbinenko (19) from Villarimboud (FR) have proven to rank among the world elite of young programmers by scoring a silver medal.