Romanian students win four medals at International Olympiad in Informatics 2026 in Uzbekistan

Romanian students win four medals at IOI 2026 in Uzbekistan

Romania's four-member team secured one gold, one silver, and two bronze medals at the 2026 International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI), held in Uzbekistan. The Ministry of Education and Research announced the results on Sunday, 16 August 2026, in a post on its Facebook page, declaring Romania's continued presence among the top nations in the competition's historical standings.

2nd place worldwide, in the historical medal ranking, for Romania, following the results at the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) 2026!

The gold medal was won by Rareș-Andrei Neculau, a 12th-grade student at Colegiul Național "Vasile Alecsandri" in Galați. The silver medal went to Mihai-Valeriu Voicu, also in 12th grade, studying at the Liceul Teoretic Internațional de Informatică in Bucharest. Two bronze medals completed the tally: Andrei-Paul Iorgulescu, an 11th-grade student at Colegiul Național de Informatică "Tudor Vianu" in Bucharest, and Alexandru Dima, a 12th-grade student at the same Liceul Teoretic Internațional de Informatică in Bucharest. Three of the four medalists attend schools in the capital, while Neculau represents the city of Galați.

Individual and historical rankings

The Ministry of Education noted that the high scores achieved by Neculau and Voicu represent the third-best individual performance in Romania's history at the competition. According to the official long-term rankings managed by International Olympiad in Informatics Statistics, Romania holds 2nd place globally in the all-time medal tally, calculated by the total number of medals collected across all historical participations. In the separate medal value ranking, which is determined by the proportion of gold, silver, and bronze distinctions, Romania stands 7th worldwide. The Ministry stated that through these performances, Romania maintains its top positions in the official long-term hierarchies managed by the IOI Statistics body.

Recognition for technical staff

The 2026 edition also brought recognition for Romania's technical staff alongside the students' achievements. Adrian Panaete, the team's leader and a teacher at Colegiul Național "A.T. Laurian" in Botoșani, received the Long Service Award, granted by the international community in recognition of his involvement and management of the team across seven editions of the IOI. The distinction was presented to him personally during the event in Uzbekistan.

The Romanian team was accompanied by Panaete as Team Leader and Luca Perju-Verzotti as Deputy Leader. Perju-Verzotti serves as a SEPI representative and is a student at École polytechnique. Romania's ambassador to Tashkent, Daniel Cristian Ciobanu, was present alongside the national team at the competition in Uzbekistan, offering diplomatic support to the delegation throughout the event.

Coordination and institutional support

At the level of the Ministry of Education and Research, coordination of the olympiad participation was handled by the Directorate for Olympiads, Competitions, Partnerships and Extracurricular Education. The Ministry emphasized the close collaboration with SEPI (Societatea pentru Excelență și Performanță în Informatică) as playing an essential role in maintaining the continuity of results across editions of the competition. The partnership between the Ministry and SEPI was cited as a key factor in Romania's sustained performance at the international level.

Congratulations to the entire team for their seriousness, consistency and determination, and to the teachers and parents for their support!