India has delivered one of their best performances at the 56th International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) 2026, with all the members of the team winning gold medals. This success got the country to finish among the world’s top-performing nations.
The competition took place at Bucaramanga, Colombia and brought 381 students together from 87 countries. The competition is one of the world’s most respected science contest for high school students, testing their knowledge on physics through theory and practical experiments.
With a perfect medal tally, India finished a six-way tie for first place alongside Russia, China, Kazakhstan, South Korea and Taiwan.
Five Students Shine on the World Stage
The Indian students who won gold medals are:
- Kansisk Jain from Pune
- Riddhesh Anant Bendale from Indore
- Rishit Garg from Delhi
- Shresth Suraiya from Mumbai
- Svait Joshi from Ahmedabad
Their success is one of India’s strongest performance in the history of the International Physics Olympiad.
Before they travelled to colombia for the competition, the students spent months preparing. Their training was advanced classroom lessons, laboratory work, and intensive problem-solving sessions to strengthen their knowledge and practical skills. Professor Anwesh Mazumdar of HBCSE-TIFR and Dr Leena Joshi, mentored the team, while Professor Ananda Dasgupta of IISER Kolkata and Nisha Kelkar were the scientific observers.
Praise from National Leaders
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the students on social media, by saying this is an “Outstanding performance”, by India’s young talents. The country’s Principal Scientific Adviser praised the team too for making India proud.
The International Physics Olympiad is known for being one of the toughest academic competition for school students. Being part of it requires to solve challenging physics questions and complete experiments under time pressure.
India’s five gold medal shows their growing strength in science education and their ability to develop talented young students. Educators have said this shows the importance of quality training, strong mentorship and continued support for students who loves science.
Sources: Firstpost, The Indian Express
