International History Olympiad
| International History Olympiad | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | History competition |
| Frequency | Biennial |
| Location(s) | various |
| Inaugurated | 2018 |
| Website | www.historyolympiad.com |
The International History Olympiad is a competition for top history students from around the world which debuted in 2015. The International History Olympiad was founded and is overseen by (IAC), though prior participation in IAC events (such as the National History Bee and Bowl or International History Bee and Bowl), is not required for students to attend the Olympiad. The qualification process, events, and awards structure at the International History Olympiad are markedly different from the International Science Olympiads. Attending the International History Olympiad in person is open to students age 10-19. University students may also now compete online in the various Olympiad History Bee and Bowl quiz tournaments; these run at precisely the same times that the events do in person at the Olympiad venue. Students compete in five separate age ranges: Collegiate, Varsity, Junior Varsity, Middle School, and Elementary as is the case at other IAC events.[1] In 2021 it was announced that the 2022 International History Olympiad will be held in New York City and Princeton, NJ from July 25 to August 1, 2022.
Qualification[]
Students typically qualify for the Olympiad either by finishing in the top 25% of a regional or championship level tournament in either the International History Bee or the International History Bowl. US students must either win a National History Bee and Bowl regional bee or bowl or finish in the top half in either at the National Championships. Students who finish among the top students at the US National Championships or IHBB Divisional Championships may be awarded discounted or free entry, and/or travel stipends.[2] Students who live over 400 kilometers from the nearest History Bee or Bowl tournaments or who could not attend due to extenuating circumstances may qualify by taking a specific exam administered by a teacher at their school. Qualification is valid for both the current academic year and the following (e.g. a student who qualifies in November 2015 could attend all Olympiads through the summer of 2017).[3] There is no limit to the number of students from any one country or US state who can attend the International History Olympiad.
Events[]
The majority of the competition events at the International History Olympiad follow a quiz bowl style format (utilizing a lock-out device buzzer system) with students competing individually. Students answer comprehensive, paragraph-length questions about specific topics in history, depending on the type of competition (e.g. Ancient History Bee, Art History Bee, etc.).
Two of the buzzer-based competitions, the International History Bee World Championships, and the International History Bowl World Championships, do not focus on specific aspects of history, but are meant to be comprehensive. The Bowl World Championships feature students on teams (usually from the same US state or country) rather than from the same school, as is the case at other IHBB tournaments.
Other competitions at the Olympiad include a research competition, various types of exams, games, and simulations of historical events (similar to Model UN historical crisis committees). The Olympiad also features a number of guest speakers, field trips, medals ceremonies for each event (complete with flags and national/state anthems), and opening and closing ceremonies.
Three events (the International History Bee World Championships, the Written Exam, and the Battery Exam) combine to form the official Olympiad championship. Students are ranked in order of their performance on these three competitions; the students with the combined best ranks are the official Olympiad champions.[4]
Affiliation and Medals[]
All students at the International History Olympiad compete for a US state (if they attend school in the USA or are an American citizen) or for their country of citizenship or residence. Students who would be eligible to compete for two affiliations must select one.[5] Medals are awarded solely to the top three competitors in each event, but they are awarded for every event. In this way, the Olympiad more closely approximates the Olympics than the International Science Olympiads. A medals table is maintained as well - the ranking is first done by total number of golds, then total number of silvers, then total number of bronzes. Students are also assigned to teams for the team events at the Olympiad based on a number of factors, though every effort is made to keep students from the same country or state together. Teams consist of either 2 or 3 students. For team events, if a "mixed" team wins a medal, the medals are credited fractionally on the medals table depending on how many students from a state or country were on the team.[6]
Future Olympiads[]
After 2016, the Olympiad became a biennial model; Olympiads thus occur in even-numbered years. The location of the 2020 International History Olympiad was revealed to take place on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. However, it and the 2020 International Geography Bee World Championships were both canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The next Olympiad will take place in 2022 in Quebec City, Canada. In 2024, the Olympiad will return to Europe, though the exact location will only be revealed in late 2022 or 2023.
Hosts[]
| Year | Host site | Host city and country | Medals table champion | Number of attending countries | Number of attending students |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | College of William and Mary |  Williamsburg, Virginia
|
 California
|
14 | 111 |
| 2016 | University of Hawaii-Manoa | Honolulu, Hawaii
|
 Illinois
|
15 | 85 |
| 2018 | Berlin Brandenburg International School |  Berlin, Germany
|
California
|
24 | 224 |
| 2022 | Université Laval |  Quebec City, Canada
|
TBD | TBD | TBD |
Overall Champions[]
Varsity[]
| Year | Champion | Second place | Third place | Number of students |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Bruce Lou California
|
Suntiparp Somsak  Thailand
|
Dashiell Yeatts-Lonske  Maryland
|
29 |
| 2016 | Jonathan Tran  Oregon
|
Jakob Myers Illinois
|
Michael Nisenzon California
|
26 |
| 2018 | Jonathan Tran Oregon
|
Daniel Ma  New York
|
Kevin Le Canada
|
59 |
Junior Varsity[]
| Year | Champion | Second place | Third place | Number of students |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Luke Tierney New York
|
Jonathan Tran Oregon
|
John Peter Connor  Washington
|
40 |
| 2016 | Alejandro Lim  Philippines
|
Gareth Thorlakson Canada
|
Daniel Ma New York
|
30 |
| 2018 | Govind Prabhakar  India
|
Arjun Nageswaran India
|
John Phipps  Argentina
|
94 |
Middle School[]
| Year | Champion | Second place | Third place | Number of students |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Priyankar Kandarpa  Singapore
|
Vijay Siddharth Singapore
|
Alejandro Lim Philippines
|
42 |
| 2016 | Enzo Cunanan  Florida
|
Shiva Oswal California
|
John Phipps Argentina
|
29 |
| 2018 | Shiva Oswal California
|
Karsten Rynearson  Connecticut
|
Siddharth Kammanavar California
|
71 |
International History Bee World Champions[]
At the end of the International History Olympiad, the International History Bee World Championships are contested. For a full list of European, Asian, and Canadian International History Bee champions, see the International History Bee and Bowl page. For a full list of USA National History Bee National Champions, see the National History Bee and Bowl page. Please note that the "International History Bee" is an individual event, as opposed to the "International History Bowl" which is the team event.
Varsity[]
| Year | Champion | Second place | Third place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Bruce Lou California
|
Alexander Echikson Maryland
|
Andrew Leung California
|
| 2016 | Jakob Myers Illinois
|
Devin Shang  Massachusetts
|
Alwin Nocum California
|
| 2018 | Jonathan Tran Oregon
|
Fred Zhang  Virginia
|
Ryan Hamilton Canada
|
Junior Varsity[]
| Year | Champion | Second place | Third place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Luke Tierney New York
|
Alex Schmidt  Pennsylvania
|
Ryan Hamilton Canada
|
| 2016 | Gareth Thorlakson Canada
|
Ryan Hamilton Canada
|
Jaya Alagar Pennsylvania
|
| 2018 | Arjun Nageswaran India
|
Govind Prabhakar India
|
Wesley Zhang California
|
Middle School[]
The Middle School division is open to some students age 14 and under, depending on month of birth. Some of the winners below were high school students at the time they won the competition.
| Year | Champion | Second place | Third place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Priyankar Kandarpa Singapore
|
Benji Chiu Oregon
|
Vijay Siddharth Singapore
|
| 2016 | Enzo Cunanan Florida
|
Eshaan Vakil  Nevada
|
Alexander Koutsoukos Connecticut
|
| 2018 | Shiva Oswal California
|
Karsten Rynearson Connecticut
|
Vivek Sapru Canada
|
International History Bowl World Champions[]
One of the marquis events at the International History Olympiad is the International History Bowl World Championships. In contrast with all other International History Bowl events, where students compete on teams representing their schools, at the Olympiad, students compete on their designated Olympiad-specific teams. Also, while teams at other International History Bowl events typically feature four students playing at once, and permit teams of 1-6 students (at regionals) and 1-unlimited students (at Championships), the Olympiad features only teams of either 2 or 3 students. Wherever possible, teams consist exclusively of students in an age division from one US state or country. However, if only one student registers for the Olympiad from a particular affiliation, then that student will be paired with 1 or 2 other students from other affiliations. For a full list of European, Asian, and Canadian International History Bowl champions, see the International History Bee and Bowl page. For a full list of USA National History Bowl National Champions, see the National History Bee and Bowl page.
Varsity[]
| Year | Champion | Second place | Third place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | California: Andrew Leung, Bruce Lou
|
Maryland A: Ben Koppell, Dashiell Yeatts-Lonske
|
Team "Geornessee"  Georgia and  Tennessee: Garrett Johnston (GA), Jesse Bennett (TN), Eric Rosenthal (TN)
|
| 2016 | California: Michael Nisenzon, Alwin Nocom
|
Team "Pakigonyland"  Pakistan, Oregon, and Maryland: Minahil Nawaz (PAK), Jonathan Tran (OR), Howard Tripp (MD)
|
Team "Illiaysia" Illinois and  Malaysia: Jakob Myers (IL), Sam Hofer (MAS)
|
| 2018 | Oregon: Grace Tran, Jonathan Tran
|
India: Sarod Nori, Hari Parameswaran, Vijay Siddharth
|
Canada A, Ryan Hamilton, Kevin Le, Gareth Thorlakson
|
Junior Varsity[]
| Year | Champion | Second place | Third place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Team "Washingtennessee": Washington and Tennessee John Connor (WA), Kevin Chen (TN)
|
Oregon Jonathan Tran, Connor Warren
|
Team "New Yorida": New York and Florida Luke Tierney (NY), Grant Bianco (FL)
|
| 2016 | India: Hari Parameswaran, Vijay Siddharth
|
Canada A: Ryan Hamilton, Jason Qu, Gareth Thorlakson
|
New York: Matthew Hasenwinkel, Daniel Ma, Jeremy Zhang
|
| 2018 | India A: Varun Gupta, Arjun Nageswaran, Govind Prabhakar
|
Maryland A: Blaise Brosnan, Matthew Shu, Brian Xu
|
Team  Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Georgia, and Nevada: Turki Majed Alqahtani (KSA), Matthew Connair (GA), Eshaan Vakil (NV)
|
Middle School[]
| Year | Champion | Second place | Third place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Singapore: Abeer Dahiya, Priyankar Kandarpa, Vijay Siddharth
|
Team "Philiwan" Philippines  Taiwan: Alejandro Lim (PHI), Dennis Yang (TAI)
|
Team "Illowahio" Illinois  Iowa  Ohio: Braeden Forman (IL), Joseph Janssen (IA), Hari Parameswaran (OH)
|
| 2016 | Team “Florikongrea” Florida  South Korea  Hong Kong: Enzo Cunanan (FL), Jun Hyuk (Edward) Lee (KOR), Yuto Lam (HKG)
|
California A: Shiva Oswal, Josh Rollin, Josh Replogle
|
Team “Switzervadatina”  Switzerland Nevada Argentina: Anabel Mellinger (SUI), Eshaan Vakil (NV), John Phipps (ARG)
|
| 2018 | California A: Siddharth Kamannavar, Shiva Oswal
|
Illinois A: Cooper Roh, Liam Starnes
|
Team “New Yecticut” New York Connecticut: Robert Ogg (NY), Karsten Rynearson (CT)
|
See also[]
References[]
- ^ "What's New for the 2022 International History Olympiad".
- ^ "Benji Chiu Wins Silver Medal at International History Bee". OregonLive.com. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 2016-02-07.
- ^ "How to Qualify? : International History Olympiad". www.historyolympiad.com. Retrieved 2016-02-07.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-08-15. Retrieved 2015-08-15.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Bureau, INQUIRER.net U.S. (22 July 2015). "Fil-Am teen reaps 9 medals for PH at Int'l History Olympiad". globalnation.inquirer.net. Retrieved 2016-02-07.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2015-08-15.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
External links[]
- International Academic Competitions
- Recurring events established in 2015