Australia’s team of four geography students achieved an outstanding second place at the International Geography Olympiad (iGeo) held in Maynooth and Dublin, Ireland, from 19 to 24 August. In addition to their second place overall, the team achieved first place in the Fieldwork component of the Olympiad.
Forty-six countries took part in this year’s competition, with the USA achieving the top team ranking, Australia achieving second place only one point behind them, and third was Indonesia.
Representing Australia were:
Drew Davison, Hale School, WA
Isla Moore, Canberra Grammar School, ACT
Oliver Walsh, Barker College, NSW
Sophie Chang, Camberwell Girls Grammar School, VIC
All four students earned medals. Isla and Oliver achieved silver medals, while Drew and Sophie achieved gold medals, ranking 7th and 12th respectively from 183 students. Sophie was the only female student to win a gold medal.
The iGeo programme involves three academic challenges over the course of a week: a written response test, a multimedia test and a fieldwork exercise. The programme also includes a presentation from each team in which they showcase a geographic challenge faced by their country, and events where students share cultural traditions and practices.
John Tasker, Australian Team Leader, commented: “The iGeo is a prestigious and very rigorous international contest. We are so proud of our students. Two gold and two silver medals is the best individual medal result Australia has ever achieved. But more important than the results is the opportunity to foster greater intercultural understanding through the friendships developed between students, and leaders, from different countries.”
For me, the real highlight of this event was meeting so many like-minded students from around the globe. It was incredible to connect with many students who also shared a passion for Geography - the conversations were endless! Another memorable aspect of iGeo was the Cultural Night, where I was able to learn about the many different identities and life experiences each student held. Overall, it was so rewarding to learn so much from my fellow iGeo participants - both Geography and non-Geography related things!
The 2025 International Geography Olympiad will be held in Bangkok, Thailand. Australia’s team will be selected from students who participated in the 2024 Australian Geography Competition, via Geography’s Big Week Out.
Geography’s Big Week Out and Australia’s participation in the Olympiad are supported by the Australian Government Department of Education, the University of Melbourne, the University of New South Wales, the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience, and Flinders University.