Aanya Goyal, a 17-year-old student from Alleyn’s School in Dulwich, London, secured a silver medal for Team India at the European Girls’ Olympiad in Informatics (EGOI) held in the Netherlands. Competing against participants from 50 countries, Goyal demonstrated exceptional problem-solving abilities.
The Indian team achieved its best performance at the EGOI, earning two bronze medals and one honorable mention. The team, including Goyal, was mentored by Paras Kasmalkar, an International Olympiad in Informatics silver medalist.
Goyal described the competition, stating, “The contest consisted of two sessions of five hours each and in each session, we were given four problems to solve – each containing several sub-tasks. The problems are complex algorithmic design and coding implementation challenges. Five hours go by very quickly and is not quite enough time.”
She expressed her pride in winning a silver medal for India, highlighting the rising popularity of competitive programming globally, especially in India. “I feel very proud to have won a silver medal for India at the Girls’ Olympiad in Informatics at a time when competitive programming is emerging as one of the most popular sports all over the world, but especially in India,” said Goyal.
Goyal’s passion for mathematics and problem-solving extends beyond coding competitions. She has previously excelled in mathematics Olympiads and the Linguistics Olympiad. Her interests also include crosswords, Kakuro puzzles, and chess.
Reflecting on her future, Goyal said, “I want to study mathematics and computer science at university. While math remains the primary interest, computing and other applications of math offer an opportunity to use my problem-solving skills to make the world a better place.”
Goyal emphasized the importance of female representation in elite competitions, stating, “I also feel a certain weight of responsibility as a girl doing well in math and computing Olympiads because sadly when it comes to elite competitions in these subjects, men still comprise 95 percent of the field; that needs to change.”
Living in the UK, Goyal draws inspiration from Bollywood songs like ‘Chak De India’ and ‘Ziddi Dil’ from the films ‘Chak De! India’ and ‘Mary Kom.’ She hopes her achievement will inspire more girls to pursue careers in technology and overcome societal biases.
With her silver medal, Goyal is optimistic about Team India’s prospects at the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024, stating, “People can dismiss me as being over-optimistic but if you cannot dream big, then you cannot win big.”
