THIS is apropos of the news item ‘Maths contest: Pakistan bags silver medal’ (July 17). It reports that Syed Waqar Ali Shah who ‘won silver medal at the International Mathematical Olympiad ... competed with about 550 students from 96 countries of the world.’

While Mr Shah’s achievement cannot be denied, we must consider this in the light of the medal awarding system and the overall results.

While it is great to celebrate national achievements in print, we must also provide background information in our news to ensure that readers are able to contextualise such achievements.

Otherwise, we risk falling into the trap of a false sense of superiority and empty self-praise.

The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) allows participation of up to six candidates from each participating country.

The award of individual gold, silver, or bronze medals is based purely on total individual score on a series of six highly complex mathematical problems.

The maximum possible individual score is 42 points. Gold medals are awarded to contestants who score at least 28 points, silver medals to those who score at least 21 points, and bronze medals to those who score at least 14 points. At the IMO 2012, a total of 51 gold, 88 silver, and 138 bronze medals were awarded.

An additional 148 competitors were awarded ‘honorable mentions’ for achieving scores of at least seven points.

Based on his individual score of 27 points, which was one less than what he needed for a gold medal, Mr Shah ranked 52 out of 548 contestants (top 10 per cent).

Very importantly, this is Mr Shah’s fourth consecutive year representing Pakistan and he has almost consistently increased his individual ranking in the IMO over the years.

In addition to individual medal awards based on points, countries are also ranked based on the collective score of their team. In this, countries that field the maximum number of contestants clearly have an edge (Pakistan fielded five contestants against the maximum of six allowed).

The total score of the Pakistani team of five was 41, with a resulting final rank of 73 out of the various participating countries.

Clearly, apart from Mr Shah’s individual score of 27, the other four Pakistani contestants were not able to leave any significant mark and they were ranked, variously, at 426, 484 (shared), and 515 out of 548 contestants.

Huma Sibghat received an honourable mention for her score of seven. Among countries, the Republic of Korea bagged top position with a score of 209, People’s Republic of China ranked second with 195 points, while US ranked third with 194 points. Our neighbouring Islamic Republic of Iran ranked eight with 151 points.

RAFIQ R. ALI Dubai