Tashkent hosted the award ceremony for the winners of the 38th International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI-2026), as reported by the Ministry of Digital Technologies of Uzbekistan.
The IOI was held in Uzbekistan for the first time. From August 9 to 16, the CAEx exhibition complex served as the venue for the competition, which brought together young programmers from over 90 countries.
Participants competed in areas such as problem analysis, algorithm and data structure development, programming, and testing. Each contestant had to complete two five-hour rounds, solving three algorithmic problems in each. The maximum score was 600 points.
According to the final results, 32 participants won gold medals, 62 won silver, and 94 won bronze. A total of 368 school students took part in the competition.
The Uzbek national team achieved a historic result. Jakhonali Khaydaraliyev, a 9th-grade student at the Muhammad al-Khwarizmi School, scored 303.48 points and won a silver medal.
Bronze medals were awarded to Sardorbek Salimov (189 points), who also received an Honorable Mention, and Timur Kodirbergenov, who had previously represented Uzbekistan in 2025, scoring 222 points and earning an Honorable Mention.
Other Uzbek participants did not secure podium finishes: Ulugbek Kamalov scored 209.56 points, Humoyun Abduraupov 139.34 points, and Ravshan Rakhimiddinov 35.38 points.
The Ministry of Digital Technologies emphasized: "The worthy results achieved by Uzbekistan's youth among the world's strongest young programmers serve as a solid foundation for conquering even higher peaks in international arenas in the future and as a great motivation for thousands of our young people."
China's Qiwen Xu became the absolute winner of IOI-2026, scoring 498.27 points and taking the Grand Prix.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov wrote on August 10 that many employees of his online platform are IOI medalists. He promised to award winners exclusive digital collectible Algorithm Cups worth at least $117,000.
"The fact that IOI is being held in Uzbekistan, the homeland of al-Khwarizmi—the father of algebra, whose name is the basis for the word 'algorithm'—is symbolic," said Pavel Durov.
"These are the only digital collectibles released by Telegram this year, so over time they may become significantly more expensive than the guaranteed $1,000 for a gold medal. We are proud to support the most talented young programmers of our time," Durov added.
The next International Olympiad in Informatics will be held in Germany in 2027. During the event, the IOI flag was ceremonially handed over to a representative of the German delegation.
Uzbekistan's bid to host the IOI was approved in 2023 during the 35th Olympiad held in Szeged, Hungary, from August 28 to September 4.
Source: www.gazeta.uz