Cuba won three gold medals and one silver medal at the XVII Ibero-American Biology Olympiad 2024 (OIAB 2024), held from September 8 to 13 at the University of Havana. This event featured participants from 15 countries.
The young people Elio Manuel Rodríguez Rivero (Villa Clara), Christian Darío Blanco (Pinar del Río), Cristian Barrero (Santiago de Cuba), and Ana Liz Ramírez (Sancti Spíritus) won three gold medals and one silver, respectively, reported the official media CMHW.
"Each of the students took two theoretical exams that represented 60% of the final score, and the remaining 40% had to be obtained from the three practical tests (Zoology, Botany, and Molecular Biology), in order to then establish the final ranking table," noted Professor Frank Manuel Duquesne Ariosa, a trainer participating in the competition.
According to CMHW, the competition recognized the efforts of emerging talents and strengthened ties of friendship between educators and students through the implementation of collateral activities.
The news portal specified that in the case of Elio Rodríguez, his participation in the contest earned him the direct granting of a degree in Biochemistry.
"The stress was worth it, as it brought with it important personal achievements, and I am grateful for that to my family, my friends, teammates, and of course, coaches," said the young winner.
According to Granma, Cuba's participation in the Ibero-American Biology Olympiad (OIAB) has been outstanding over the years. In the 2023 edition, for example, two of its contestants achieved gold medals, consolidating the country's prestige in this event.
For the OIAB 2025 and 2026, the proposed locations are Colombia and Guatemala respectively.
In the case of the Santiago native Cristian Barrero Hernández, a student at IPVCE Antonio Maceo Grajales in Santiago de Cuba, it is the second opportunity he has received the gold medal in the prestigious competition. The previous one was achieved in 2023 at the Central American and Caribbean Biology Olympiad.
Barrero is set to begin Mandatory Military Service in October, and once completed, he will be able to enter university, pursuing a degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, which is studied in Havana, as he confessed to the news portal Cuba Noticias 360.
In the upcoming months, several international knowledge events will take place, including the Central American Biology Olympics in El Salvador in November. However, due to the rules of these competitions, the young person will not be able to attend that event, the website noted.
"In the biology olympics, participation is unique, so I can no longer go to the Central American one because I was there last year," the young man pointed out.
Similarly, it is sad that, although the International Biology Olympiad exists, Cuba has not been able to debut there due to a lack of funding: "I'm sure great things would be achieved if we participated," said the young medalist.
This year, several Cuban students have achieved significant honors in competitive events.
Marco Antonio Escandón García, an eleventh-grade student at the Vocational Pre-University Institute of Exact Sciences (IPVCE) Ernesto Guevara, in Villa Clara, recently won a bronze medal at the 36th International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI 2024), held in the city of Alexandria, Egypt.
In August, Rosmary Fernández Tamayo, a student at the Luis Urquiza Jorge Vocational Pre-University Institute of Exact Sciences (IPVCE) in the province of Las Tunas, received an honorable mention at the Central American and Caribbean Physics Olympiad in El Salvador.
Also, two students who represented Cuba in the 56th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO 2024) in July won a bronze medal and an honorable mention in the prestigious and competitive event, held this year in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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