RI gets physics Olympiad gold medal

JAKARTA: The Indonesian team won five medals, including a gold medal in physics, during the world's 34th Physics Olympiad held in Taipei, Taiwan.

The gold medal was a repeat of the 1999 record, when Balinese student Made Agus Wirawan won a gold medal, Indonesia's first gold medal in the annual Olympiad.

Held in Taipei from Aug. 2 through Aug. 11, the Indonesian team was represented by Widadgo Setiawan from the Bali-based Denpasar 1 Senior High School, Rangga Perdana Budoyo from the Magelang-based Taruna Nusantara Senior High School, Bernardus Richardo from the Bogor-based Regina Pacis Senior High School, Triwiyono Darsowiyono from Yogyakarta-based Senior High School No. 3, and Yudhistira Virgus from the Palembang-based Xaverius Senior High School No. 1 .

Widagdo won the only gold medal, while the other Indonesians took one bronze medal.

The five were selected after a rigorous selection process nationwide since October last year.

Some 54 countries were competing in the Olympiad this year. Indonesia, with its human development index ranked 112th out of 170 countries surveyed by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), was nevertheless able to get itself into the top six countries with the most medals, along with the U.S., South Korea, Taiwan, Iran and India.

Indonesia first joined the competition in 1993, when it won a bronze medal. -- Antara