Millfield student named top female mathematician in the world

Millfield Upper Sixth student Yuka Machino was the highest placed female competitor in the world at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), held online this September. She was the only female to win a gold medal and was placed 22nd out of 616 competitors, each one the very best from their country.

Yuka was selected for one of only six places in the UK team for the 2020 International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) back in June and was the only UK participant to win a gold medal at the competition last week. After Yuka’s performance in the two 4.5 hour papers that form the competition, the UK team are now ranked 9th in the world.

The prestigious competition, which sees children from over 100 countries compete to solve complex mathematical problems, was meant to be hosted in Russia, but took place online due to current travel restrictions.

This recent success follows Yuka’s bronze medal at the 2020 Romanian Master of Mathematics Competition in Bucharest in February, and gold medals at the European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad in both 2019 and 2020.

Millfield has one of the largest Mathematics departments of any independent school, with an experienced team of 24 teaching staff. They are passionate about encouraging a love of mathematics that stretches beyond the classroom and regularly support students to take part in demanding olympiad competitions. Millfield’s Head of Mathematics, Dr Ceri Fiddes, served as Executive Director of the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) last year when the competition was held in Bath. Dr Fiddes has been involved with the UK Mathematics Trust for 18 years, holding roles including Deputy Leader of the UK IMO team, presenter of the BMO1 solutions video and Director of the inaugural European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad in 2012.

Millfield Headmaster Gavin Horgan says, “My congratulations to Yuka and her teachers for a tremendous result, what a way to start the school year. Yuka is a fantastic example to young people hoping to achieve great things academically; we are so proud of her here at Millfield.”

Learn more about Mathematics at Millfield here.