Francis Deinmel Legaspi, 10 years old, holds a Philippine flag at the 4th Copernicus International Math Olympiad Global Round held in Columbia University in New York, United States. The boy won the gold for the Philippines. (Photo from Dennis Legaspi)
MANILA, Philippines — Francis Deinmel Legaspi, a 10-year-old student at the Special Education Center for the Gifted, has won the gold for the Philippines during the 4th Copernicus International Math Olympiad.
The Copernicus International Math Olympiad is an event in which students from grades third to 12 compete in mathematics and astronomy. The 4th Copernicus International Math Olympiad was held in Columbia University in New York, United States, from July 9-13.
Legaspi outsmarted more than a hundred participants from 22 countries across the globe.
But this was not the first time that Legaspi bagged this type of award – the young Filipino previously won gold medals in the following math competitions: Hong Kong International Math Olympiad, Thailand International Math Olympiad, Southeast Asia Math Olympiad, Philippine International Math Olympiad, and World International Math Olympiad.
The math whiz’s father, Dennis Legaspi, thanked the Special Education Center for the Gifted, especially school principal Abdon Bayla, and his son’s personal math coach Ricardo Quejado for strengthening Francis’ skills. He also thanked Senator Sonny Angara, acknowledging the lawmaker for “consistently helping [Francis] ever since he started joining international math competitions at the age of six.”
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