Diego García Rodríguez and the challenge of mathematics

“It was very exciting when they announced my name among the medalists, because it represents a huge achievement for me—winning that medal at an international event is actually quite difficult—so it was a very thrilling moment.”

This is Diego García Rodríguez, an eleventh-grade student at the Eusebio Olivera Vocational Pre-University Institute of Exact Sciences, who became the first international medalist in mathematics for the province of Sancti Spíritus.

“Honestly, it was a major challenge because Sancti Spíritus had no prior history in this Olympiad; I felt a bit of a mental block wondering how *I* could be the one to start the region’s legacy in this competition. But, well, through a lot of sacrifice and hard work, I finally succeeded, and it is an honor for me to start that history.

“It lasted four and a half hours in a huge basketball hall at a school in Shanghai, so the setting was quite impressive. But I stayed focused on the exam; I started with the easiest problems—numbers 1 and 4—and the one that really stumped me was number 4, as it could easily lead me off the path to the solution. But in the end, I managed to solve it.”

For young Diego Pérez Rodríguez from Sancti Spíritus, the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) held in Shanghai opened doors to making new friends, and he is already preparing for upcoming competitions.