2012 Participants | Previous Physics Participants
The International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) has risen from very humble beginnings in 1967, when only three nations from Eastern Europe participated. The Olympiad has been held every year since and they now attract close to 80 countries from all continents. The goal of these competitions was, and continues to be, the encouragement of excellence in science education throughout the world; these competitions are the most prestigious of their kind for students at the high school or CÉGEP level.
All participating countries, Canada included, devote an enormous amount of time, energy, and money encouraging and preparing their most talented students so that they will do well in these competitions. The caliber of the competition is high and encompasses both theoretical knowledge and laboratory expertise.
Each year, the IPhO competition is held in different countries. In 1997, Canada was honoured to serve as host for the 28th IPhO (in Sudbury, Ontario).
Our national teams performed well at these competitions. Canada first participated in the International Physics Olympiad in 1985. Since 1985, our physics students have won 8 Gold, 18 Silver, and 41 Bronze Medals, in addition to 31 Honourable Mentions.
The 2012 Competitions:
The 2012 National Olympiad Finals (NOF) were held at the University of British Columbia from May 21 to 25. Fourteen students who got top results in Canadian Association of Physicist High School exam and one selected on the basis of his performance at POPTOR (Toronto provincial Olympiad program) came to Vancouver to compete for the five places on the team, which will represent Canada at the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO, Tallinn, Estonia, July 15 -24).
The students attended lectures, problem solving sessions and a lab and had four 5 hours long (the IPhO standard) theoretical and experimental tests.
2012 Physics NOF participants were:
| Last name | First name | School | Province |
| Bhatla | Christopher | Western Canada High School | AB |
| Blouin | Simon | Bois-de-Boulogne | QC |
| Borissov | Anton | Waterloo Collegiate Institute | ON |
| Downing | Tristan | Semiahmoo | BC |
| Ebadi | Sepher | Langstaff Secondary School | ON |
| Fan | Jia Hui | St. Robert Catholic High School | ON |
| Fisher | Wesley | Dartmouth High School | NS |
| Yun Jia | Guan | University of Toronto Schools | ON |
| Kim | Ji Sup | Yale | BC |
| Lu | Sean | Vincent Massey Secondary School | ON |
| Mei | Jannis | University of Toronto Schools | ON |
| Wu | Henry | University of Toronto Schools | ON |
| Yao | Yuan | Colonel By Secondary School | ON |
| Cao | Run Ze | Martingrove C. I. | ON |
| Zhan | Eric | University of Toronto Schools | ON |
The following students were selected from the above group to serve as members of the Canadian team for the 2012 International Physics Olympiad in Estonia and all got medals!
| Last name | First name | Medal |
| Blouin | Simon | Bronze |
| Downing | Tristan | Bronze |
| Ebadi | Sepher | Bronze |
| Guan | Yun Jia (Melody) | Bronze |
| Wu | Henry | Silver |
Final results for all participating countries will be posted on the web site of the host country.
Warmest congratulations to the team!!