Two Indian-American youth, along with four other teenagers, took the U.S. mathematics team to the top at the 56th International Mathematical Olympiad, IMO, after a gap of 21 years. They competed against teams from 100 countries.

Glowing with pride at the victory ceremony July 14 after the gruelling competitions in Chiang Mai, Thailand which lasted from July 3 to 13, the young team is an epitome of what America means – a multicultural society whose immigrant populations have enabled it to gain recognition around the world. The six-member team had 3 Caucasians, one Chinese, one part Chinese and Indian, and 1 of Indian origin. “That diversity is a part of our culture,” Po Shen Loh, the national coach of the team, an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA, told News India Times.

Shyam Narayanan, 17, and Yang Liu, 18, are special people, their coach said. While both Narayanan’s parents are of Indian origin, Liu’s father is Indian whose last name is Patil, and Liu sometimes uses that as his last name as well, and his mother is of Chinese origin. The parents’ names were not available by press time. Narayanan is a student at Blue Valley West High School in Kansas City, Missouri, and is enrolled in the Program for Research in Math, Engineering and Sciences, PRIMES-USA, at the Center for Advanced Professional Studies, CAPS, based in Augusta, Georgia.

Just how tough it is to get to the top is evident from the way team members are selected for the Olympiad which is a competition for high school students held in a different host country annually. The six team members went through a series of competitions organized by the Mathematical Association of America, culminating with the USA Mathematical Olympiad. They then joined 48 of their peers at Carnegie Mellon University in June for three weeks of immersion in problem solving at MAA’s Mathematical Olympiad Summer Program, MOSP which was established in 1974. The IMO was first held in 1959 in Romania with just 7 countries participation.

“Shyam is a fantastic person. Not only does he have a mathematical sense, but he is also a gentleman – a polished and balanced individual,” Loh said. He had the same praise for Liu.

While “genius” was too loaded a word to describe his team members, they are “extremely special” people. “Anyone who can be in the top 6 in America, whether it be in singing, or kicking soccer balls, or eating hot dogs, they’re extremely special because it takes a certain commitment,” Loh said.

Mathematics however, also allows one to do more with the skill to help the world. Liu who has won two gold medals at the International Mathematics Olympiad, has an idealism and wants to change the world, his coach said. And he believes he is doing some of that at Expii.com, the startup which is developing math and science tutorials accessed on smartphones in an interactive one-on-one approach so that students in remote locations can have a personal tutor, according to Loh. Liu is also among the top 15 or 20 computer programmers in the country, Loh said. This count not be independently verified as this went to press.

Scores at the Olympiad are based on the number of points scored by individual team members on six problems. The problems are taken in sets of three in 4.5 hour sessions over two days. The U.S. team’s combined score of 185 edged out the Chinese team’s score of 181 and the Republic of Korea’s third-place score of 161.

Members of the U.S. team included Ryan Alweiss, Allen Liu, Yang Liu, Narayanan, and David Stoner, all of whom were awarded gold medals, and Michael Kural, who earned a silver medal, just one point away from the gold. The last time the U.S. team took first place was in 1994.