Cyprus makes its debut at the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence and immediately wins four medals

Cyprus took part in the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (IOAI) for the first time and completed its debut with four bronze medals and two honourable mentions. The IOAI 2026 competition took place in Astana, Kazakhstan, bringing together school students from different countries around the world.

The Cypriot delegation consisted of eight students. Amir Daiyrov and Christos Alexandrou won two bronze medals, another bronze went to Petros Vourmas, and the fourth — to Alexandros Ktoris. Artem Konukhov and Sotiris Savva received honourable mentions for their results.

The team was formed as part of a collaboration between Neapolis University Pafos, JetBrains, the JetBrains Foundation and the Cyprus Computer Society. JetBrains served as Cyprus’ national participation coordinator. The selection process was open: more than 100 school students from state and private schools across the country submitted applications. Participation was free, and no special prior preparation was required — candidates were selected solely on the basis of their test results.

For Cyprus, this result was particularly notable given that it was the country’s debut in the competition. The International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence is intended for school students and tests their abilities in modern technologies and artificial intelligence. In 2026, 95 participants took part in the competition, with a total of 24 bronze medals, 15 silver medals and 14 honourable mentions awarded.

Thus, Cyprus’ very first attempt to enter the international AI olympiad arena brought the country four medals at once. The students’ success could become an important signal for the development of educational programmes in programming, machine learning and artificial intelligence in Cyprus.