UK team win four medals at this year’s IBO Challenge

Four students representing the UK have been awarded medals at the International Biology Olympiad (IBO) Challenge this year.

Alexander Colesmith (The Judd School), Young Jun Lee (The National Mathematics and Science College) and Neil Sardesai (The Perse School) received silver medals, and Rory Welsh (Sevenoaks School) received a bronze medal.

IBO Challenge II UK Team (from left to right): Alexander Colesmith, Young Jun Lee, Neil Sardesai, and Rory Welsh.

The competition was expected to take place in Lisbon, Portugal this year, but instead ran online as an IBO Challenge and remotely in each competitor’s home country due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Students from more than 50 countries participated in the international competition.

The UK team were selected from 8,000 students who took part in the British Biology Olympiad in March, organised by UK Biology Competitions (UKBC).

Dr Matthew Johnston, chair of UKBC commented: “Achieving four medals at the IBO is a fantastic success. On behalf of UKBC, I would like to pass on my congratulations to the team.”

“I would also like to thank the University of Warwick for their continued support of the competition and providing excellent training for this year’s students.”

The achievement of this year’s team was recognised at a celebratory dinner attended by the UKBC volunteers and previous IBO UK team members. The event also marked the 25th anniversary of the British Biology Olympiad.

Find out more about the international competition on the IBO Challenge II website.