The 49th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) concluded in Madrid, on Monday, with the Chinese team finishing first and the Russian team and US team finishing second and third respectively.

Xiong Bin, head of the Chinese delegation, told Xinhua that the Chinese team's achievement this year was indeed remarkable as Chen Zhuo, the first female Chinese competitor since 1996, together with her four male teammates -- Mu Xiaosheng, Wei Dongyi, Zhang Ruixiang and Zhang Cheng, won five individual gold medals.

Mu, Wei and U.S. competitor Alex Zhai also got full scores at the competition which started last Tuesday and drew 535 participants from 101 countries and regions.

Spanish Crown Prince Felipe de Borbon y Grecia, his wife Letizia Ortiz and Minister of Education, Social Policy and Sports Mercedes Cabrera Calvo-Sotelo attended the closing ceremony and awarded medals to the winners.

IMO is an annual six-problem, 42-point mathematical competition for pre-collegiate students and is the oldest of the international science Olympiads. The first IMO was held in Romania in 1959, and the next one is scheduled for July next year in Bremen, Germany.

(Xinhua News Agency July 22, 2008)