科尔和美国队的另外5名选手一起参加在泰国清迈(Chiang Mai, Thailand)举行的2015年国际奥林匹克数学竞赛，与来自世界各地近600名年轻的数学精英同台竞技，最后荣获冠军。中国获得亚军，韩国名列第三。

1959年在罗马尼亚举行第一届数学竞赛，7个国家参加了比赛。2015年7月，来自尼日利亚、阿富汗、厄瓜多尔等106个国家的代表队，在为期两天的竞赛中努力攻克高难度的数学问题。

下面是本届国际奥林匹克数学竞赛的一个试题。读者不妨可以试一试，看能否求得答案。

参加国际奥林匹克数学竞赛的选手必须在20岁以下并且是所代表国家的公民。每一队由6名选手组成，每一位选手单独参赛，不得使用计算器。

在美国，美国数学学会(Mathematical Association of America) 经常举办一些比赛，最高级别的比赛是美国奥林匹克数学竞赛(USA Mathematical Olympiad)。美国队就是在这一过程中选拔出来的，在国际奥林匹克数学竞赛开始之前，选手们需要在数学夏令营参加3个星期的训练。

你如果有兴趣来美国学习数学或是任何其它科目，请浏览ShareAmerica，更多地了解美国大学生活，还可以访问Education USA网站为来美留学做好准备。

What’s the formula for winning the 2015 Math Olympics?

“It was definitely a lot harder than we’ve been used to,” American team member Michael Kural said about the 56th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). “I think a lot of teams weren’t really used to that.”

Kural and his five American teammates won the 2015 IMO in Chiang Mai, Thailand, after competing against nearly 600 young math whizzes from around the world. China earned second place and South Korea took third.

Seven countries participated in the first math competition, held in 1959 in Romania. In July 2015, teams from 106 countries, from Nigeria, Afghanistan, Ecuador and countries in between, grappled with tough math questions over the two-day olympiad.

Can you or your friends solve this problem from the IMO test?

IMO participants must be under 20 years old and a citizen of the country they represent. Teams are composed of six people, but every member competes individually and calculators are forbidden.

In the United States, the Mathematical Association of America organizes competitions that culminate in the USA Mathematical Olympiad. The American team is selected from this process and trains for three weeks before the IMO at a math summer camp.

If you’re interested in studying math — or any other field — in the United States, follow ShareAmerica to learn more about life at U.S. colleges and visit Education USA to plan your study in the U.S..