The 5th International History Olympiad took place in Rome, Italy from July 23-30 with 258 students in attendance, representing 30 US states, 20 other countries, and 4 territories. This was the largest Olympiad ever in terms of attending students, and was the first since 2018 to be held in Europe. St. Stephen’s School was the host site for most of the competitions, though several finals were held in historic venues throughout the area, including inside the Colosseum (Roman History Bee), at St. Peter’s Square (Catholic History Bee), and in the Circus Maximus (Sports History Bee and Running Combined). Many thanks to St. Stephen’s School for hosting the competition, and to all of the students and their families who attended!
California led the Medals Table with 37.33 medals and 11.33 gold (fractional medals reflect team events where 1 student of a team of 2 or 3 students represented a particular affiliation). Canada finished second on both accounts, with 31 medals, including 7 gold. Taylor Chen, an Elementary Division student from Tennessee led the Individual Medals Table with 10 medals, including 6 gold. Of the 258 competing students, 110 won a medal in an individual event, and 9 additional students won a medal as part of a team event.
In the Overall competition, the International History Olympiad World Champions were Lucas O’Flanagan of Connecticut in the Varsity Division, Samanyu Ganesh of Georgia (US State) in the Junior Varsity Division, Luke Ng of Singapore in the Middle School Division, and Aadhrith Sathiyamangalam Sarvesh of the United Kingdom in the Elementary Division.
As always at the Olympiad, the International History Bee World Championships were contested, and were won by Tanuj Chandekar of New Jersey in Varsity, Sean Pastalaniec of Texas in Junior Varsity, Malcolm McIntyre of the District of Columbia in Middle School, and Miller Angevine of Georgia (US State) in the Elementary Division. The International History Bowl World Championships (which uniquely for a History Bowl tournament showcase teams representing states or countries, and not school teams) were won by Team US West (James O’Reilly of Arizona, Benjamin Marek of California, and Samik Shetty of Kansas) in the Varsity Division, Team California A (Abhivir Arvind Iyer, Grant Han, and Maximilian Guo) in the Junior Varsity Division, Team Asia (Luke Ng of Singapore and Gabriel Gougenheim of the United Arab Emirates) in the Middle School Division, and Team US South (Miller Angevine of Georgia [US State] and William Russman of Nevada) in the Elementary Division.
Aside from the 27 medal events and the 4 separate trophy events, students had a chance to sightsee around Rome, including visits to the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, St. Peter’s Basilica (where one lucky group even saw Pope Francis’s weekly blessing), the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, Ostia Antica, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization Headquarters, the Baths of Caracalla, and several walking tours that took in other sites such as the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, and Trajan’s Column. Approximately half of the students, and many of their parents and siblings, took part in the optional concluding day trip to Pompeii and the National Archaeological Museum in Naples on July 31.
At the Closing Ceremonies of the Olympiad, it was announced that the 2025 Olympiad (the Olympiad is now on its biennial track, so henceforth it will be held in odd-numbered years) will likely take place in Vienna, Austria, with an optional day trip to Budapest. Olympiad staff will be touring venues and possible host sites in Vienna shortly and hope to announce a host site by the end of the 2023 calendar year. Students will be able to qualify during either the 2023-24 or 2024-25 academic years; students who have medaled at a past Olympiad are automatically qualified for all subsequent Olympiads.
Thanks to everyone who came to Rome for a great week of history-themed competition and camaraderie, and we look forward to once again welcoming the world’s best history students when the 6th International History Olympiad takes place in July 2025!