RIYADH: A group of Saudi high school students returned home on Thursday after securing bronze medals at an international science olympiad.
The Saudi Astronomy and Astrophysics team arrived to cheers after representing the Kingdom in its first appearance at the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Over 250 students from 53 countries gathered in Vassouras, Brazil for the ten-day event.
The Saudi medalists were Joud Basim Al-Lahyani, Hussein Hassan Al-Mubarak, and Fajr Hassan Al-Ubaidan.
Al-Lahyani, a high school senior, said that she and the team were proud to represent the country, adding that each journey had its challenges.
But “thanks to the people who supported us, we were able to overcome these obstacles,” she told Saudi television.
A collaborative effort by Mawhiba; the Saudi Communications, Space and Technology Commission; and the Saudi Education Ministry helped prepare the students for the 17th edition of the olympiad.
Badr Al-Majradi, competitions director at Mawhiba, known formally as the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity, said the three students were chosen from over 16,000.
“The students went through approximately 560 hours of training over the course of a year,” Al-Majradi said.
The annual international event, which was inaugurated in 2007 in Thailand, seeks to foster an interest in astronomy and astrophysics among the youth.
