US Team Garners 4 Gold, 1 Silver at Physics Olympiad in Singapore.

Olympian William Throwe, left, shakes hands with Representative Timothy Bishop (NY-1st).

Representative Jim Moran (D, VA-8th) meets with Olympian Menyoung Lee in the halls of Rayburn Photo Credits: AIP Media and Government Relations Staff

Twenty four high school students spent nine long, intense days at the end of May doing physics, including classes every day, seven exams, two practice labs and four mystery labs. And they had fun doing it. Members of the United States Physics team, they attended training camp at the University of Maryland.

During the nine day camp, the team took one day off from training to visit nearby Washington, DC, where they met with their Senators and Representatives, toured the National Air and Space museum, and attended a special reception with the two physicists in Congress, Vernon Ehlers (MI-3rd) and Rush Holt (NJ-12th). Ehlers inserted a statement in the congressional record honoring the team. In a statement inserted into the Congressional Record honoring the team, Ehlers remarked “I hope their enthusiasm will be contagious to other students who will be drawn to challenging and rewarding careers in math and science.”

At the end of the training camp, five students and one alternate were selected for the traveling team, These students traveled to Singapore to compete in the International Physics Olympiad July 8-17. The team brought home four gold medals and one silver medal.

Winning gold medals were: Menyoung Lee, a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, VA. (VA-11th); William Throwe, a senior at Shoreham-Wading River High School, Shoreham, NY (NY-1st.); Henry Tung , a junior at Torrey Pines High School in San Diego (CA 50th); and Otis Chodosh, a senior at the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics in Oklahoma City (OK-5th). Taking home a silver medal was Sherry Gong, a junior at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, NH (NH-1st).

In an unofficial ranking of countries based on total team score, the US team placed second, outscored only by the Chinese team.

From 1986 to 2006 the United States teams have brought home 30 gold medals, 21 silver medals, 26 bronze medals, and 11 honorable mentions.

The Olympiad is an international competition among pre-university students from more than 80 nations. The goals of the Olympiad are to encourage excellence in physics education and to reward outstanding physics students.