Sri Lankan team wins four bronze medals at Chemistry Olympiad 2024

Sri Lankan team with the mentors, Dr. Chintahka Ratnaweera and Dr. Kushan Weerasiri

Medal winners: Neth Wijesooriya, Sreemaathuri Sinthanaichselvan, Pahanma Lenora and Sithupa Palihawadana

Sri Lankan students demonstrated exceptional skills by securing four bronze medals at the recently concluded 56th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) held at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 
The four students who brought pride to the nation are, Robolge Pahanma Upani Lenora (Sanghamitta Balika Vidyalaya, Galle), Sithupa Danithu Nethmina Palihawadana (Royal College, Colombo), Sreemaathuri Sinthanaichselvan (Ramanathan Hindu Ladies’ College, Colombo) and Vajra Neth Wijesooriya (Ananda College, Colombo). 
The Sri Lankan team was accompanied by the mentors, Dr. Chinthaka Ratnaweera (University of Ruhuna) and Dr. Kushan Weerasiri (College of Chemical Sceinces, IChemC).
Since it inception in 1968, IChO is organized for secondary school students from all over the globe with the objective of promoting their creativity and cognitive skills in solving chemistry related problems. This year a total of 300 high school students from 90 countries participated in this prestigious competition.The competition consisted of a range of demanding theoretical exams and laboratory experiments aimed at assessing students’ chemistry knowledge and practical skills.
The Chemistry Olympiad Sri Lanka (COSL) committee which is a sub-committee under the Council of the Institute of Chemistry Ceylon (IChemC) organizes the Sri Lanka National Chemistry Olympiad (SLNChO) annually and selects the team that represents Sri Lanaka in this prestigiousIChO competition. A pool of around 30 students was selected from the all-island preliminary selection examination held in February and thereafter, several practical and theory workshops were conducted before the final round of the SLNChO held in April 2024. Subsequently, four representatives of the Sri Lankan team were selected from very competitive practical and theory examinations.
This is the fifth appearance of the Sri Lanka at the IChO and for the second time Sri Laknan team physically participated in the IChO competition.