Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The Saudi Astronomy and Astrophysics Team returned home on Thursday after winning three bronze medals at the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from August 17 to 27. The event featured over 250 students from 53 countries.

The Kingdom’s medal winners included Joud Basim Hamdan Al-Lahyani, a second-year secondary school student from the Makkah Education Directorate; Hussein Hassan bin Mohammed Al-Mubarak, a first-year secondary school student from the Eastern Province Education Directorate; and Fajr Hassan bin Ali Al-Ubaidan, a second-year secondary school student from the Al-Ahsa Education Directorate.

This success reflects the rigorous training and qualification journey undertaken by the Saudi students in camps organized through a collaboration between King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba), the Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST), and the Ministry of Education.

The IOAA, first held in 2006 in Thailand, is an annual competition for secondary school students. Saudi Arabia participated last year with an observer team to prepare for this year’s competition.