Greetings,

This is my final report from the 21st IOI in Bulgaria.

We've just returned from the closing ceremony, held in the evening of the final day in an ancient Roman amphitheater in the old town of Plovdiv, overlooking the city.  It was a truly unforgettable event.  We were treated to performances of drumming and singing as well as traditional Bulgarian dance.  Everyone was eagerly awaiting the medal announcements, and our team was happy to hear their results:

Neal Wu - gold
Brian Hamrick - gold
Wenyu Cao - silver
Travis Hance - silver

All together, this makes for one of the strongest showings ever for the USA at the IOI.  We are told that the sum of our team's points is second only to China.  I can only imagine what we can possibly accomplish next year, if we have even stronger performances than this (since it is conceivable that many or even all of our current team could return!)

The final award of the evening was a true honor -- Rob Kolstad was called on stage to receive the distinguished service award of the IOI, given each year to a single individual deemed to have contributed greatly to the IOI and its mission.  Richer Forster of Britain gave a short speech describing Rob's numerous achievements and contributions.  It was a well-deserved award.  The evening finished off with an impressive fireworks display, ending both a wonderful closing ceremony and IOI.

We're all flying out early next morning, after a very short night.  Hopefully our flights will run smoothly and we won't loose our luggage this time!  Next year, the IOI will be held at Waterloo in Canada, which should be exciting (the next locations after that are Thailand, Italy, and Australia).

For my last batch of photos, please visit:

http://picasaweb.google.com/bcdean/IOI2009c#

Brian Dean