Cyprus wins 4 bronze medals on its AI Olympiad debut

Cyprus entered the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence for the first time this year - and came home from IOAI 2026 in Astana, Kazakhstan with four bronze medals and two honourable mentions from an eight-student delegation.

Who won what. The first team - Amir Daiyrov, Christos Alexandrou, Artyom Konukhov and Mariia Shilo, led by Svyatoslav Suglobov - took two bronzes (Daiyrov, Alexandrou) plus an honourable mention for Konukhov. The second team - Petros Vourmas, Alexandros Ktoris, Sotiris Savva and Artem Iankin, led by Sergey Shashkov - also took two bronzes (Vourmas, Ktoris) with an honourable mention for Savva.

The format is brutal. Two days, six hours of individual examination each day, covering programming, data analysis and machine learning - at a difficulty level pitched well above typical school work.

How the eight were chosen. More than 100 students from public and private schools across Cyprus registered for an open selection process. Participation was free and required no prior preparation. Training started in November 2025 with online machine-learning lessons; the top 30 were invited to the AI Winter Cyprus Camp in Pafos at the start of 2026, then four months of intensive work, then an AI Summer Camp in July where the final eight were picked.

Who is behind it. The delegation was organised by Neapolis University Pafos, JetBrains and the JetBrains Foundation, and the Cyprus Computer Society, with JetBrains acting as national coordinator. The steering committee was chaired by Professor Savvas Chatzichristofis (Neapolis University Pafos), with Panikos Masouras (CCS) and Alexander Avdiushenko (JetBrains). Support also came from Leptos Group and LEPTOS ESTATES, The Island Private School and Technology Leaders of the Future.

Why it matters for next year. The programme is now an established open selection-and-training pipeline, and the organisers say the goal for the next cycle is to widen participation and pull in more of the Cypriot academic community. If you are still at school in Cyprus and interested in AI, the entry point is free and the training is real - watch for the next call.

Source