TEHRAN -- The Chinese team won five gold medals for the first place of the 2024 International Physics Olympiad in Isfahan, where Iranian students stood fourth, the secretary general of the competition said. 
After China, the Russian team with four gold medals and one silver medal, Romania with three gold medals and two silver medals, and Iran with one gold medal and four silver medals ranked first to fourth in terms of individual and group points, Professor Rajip Singh Rawat said at the closing ceremony held at the Sheikh Bahai Hall of the Isfahan University of Technology on Sunday.
Singh Rawat hailed the close competition between the top teams, saying Iran’s student team had a significant improvement compared to the previous period when it was ranked 17th in the world. He said the Iranian contestant lost a gold medal by a whisker. 
Teams from Iran, Russia, China, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Romania, Turkiye, Mexico, Georgia, Bulgaria, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Croatia, Colombia, Belarus, Kuwait, and Vietnam participated in the 54th International Physics Olympiad.
Oman and Morocco took part as observers to get familiar with the international competition.
The first IPhO was held in Poland in 1967. With the number of countries, which joined the competition, increasing each year, the event encountered some problems during the 15 years afterward. However, since 1982, it has been held regularly every year, except in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic.
This is the second time that Isfahan hosts the IPhO. The last time the city held the event was in 2007.     
Iran joined the IPhO 36 years ago, with its students snatching a significant number of medals over the years. This year, five Iranian students took part in the competition.