The Bulgarian high school chemistry scientific team has won three medals at the 44th edition of the prestigious International Chemistry Olympiad, IChO, in the US.

Petar Karazapryanov, Vasil Vasilev and Hristo Rasheev came back home with one silver and two bronze medals.

273 competitors from 72 countries took part in the Olympiad, which was hosted by the University of Marylаnd, College Park, MD, near the US capital Washington DC.

The contest required knowledge at a level significantly higher than the school curriculum. It had two rounds – a practical with two experimental tasks, and a theoretical with eight tasks from physics-chemistry, non-organic, organic and analytical chemistry.

The Bulgarian team was coached by lecturers from the Chemistry and Pharmacy Department of the Sofia University and by members of the National Chemistry Olympiad Committee.

The South Korea team, who acquired four gold medals, was ranked first, followed by the one of the Taiwanese students with three gold medals and one silver medal.