He had prepared for almost a year. Done hundreds of practice tests. And won two bronze medals in his past two International Mathematics Olympiads.
But despite being one of the best young mathematicians in Australia, 16-year-old Knox Grammar student Seyoon Ragavan was still racked with nerves as he stepped into the exam room.
"I'd spent a fair bit of time over the day before to get my mind into the position where I'm not thinking about the competition, and other competitors," he said.
He was about to set pen to paper in the notoriously difficult International Mathematics Olympiad, the world's premier competition for secondary student mathematicians. Held last week in Thailand, the competition attracted almost 600 competitors from 104 countries.
Nerves clearly didn't upset his performance, though. Seyoon came away with a gold medal and placed 19th overall worldwide, ahead of hundreds of other bright young mathematicians.
"The highlight of the trip would have to be the result, both the team's and mine. It was that moment when the results came out and everyone on the team was really, really overwhelmed," he said.
"We were over the moon. Our leader, our deputies, everyone was absolutely thrilled."
The Australian team placed sixth in the world, its best result in 35 years and ahead of countries such as Russia, Canada, and Japan.
Australian Mathematics Trust executive director Mike Clapper, who oversees the selection and training of Australian Olympiad competitors, said it was the most exciting mathematical event he'd been involved with.
"The fact we can hold our place towards the head of the pack against countries with higher populations and lengthy traditions in maths is a credit to the students themselves and the trainers," he said.
The Olympiad exam was reportedly more difficult than previous years, but Seyoon said this helped Australia cement their top spot. Australian trainers had been preparing the competitors with "absurdly difficult" trial exams in the weeks running up to the event.
