National Geographic World Championship

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The National Geographic World Championship (previously called the International Geography Olympiad, which is now the title of another similar competition for older schoolchildren) is a biennial, two-day long international geography competition typically held in late July or early August. The Championship was first held in 1993, and is sponsored by the National Geographic Society. Teams of three students plus one alternate are selected from among those who finished highest in their respective countries' national competitions (e.g. the National Geographic Bee in the U.S.A. or the Australian Geography Competition in Australia). On the first day of competition, these teams take a written test on which all members confer and work together, then take part in a team geography skills-testing activity, such as using a map to find specified locations in unfamiliar surroundings. The scores from these two events are tallied, and the top three teams advance to the final round on the second day. The final round consists of questions primarily in the style of the National Geographic Bee, as a moderator (since 1993, Alex Trebek) reads questions to one team or one individual at a time. These questions may also involve the use of visual aids such as maps or photographs. Members of the top three teams receive bronze, silver, or gold medals for finishing third, second, or first, respectively.

[edit] Locations and Winners

1993

Location: London, England

  • First place: United States
  • Second place: United Kingdom
  • Third place: Russia

1995

Location: Orlando, Florida

  • First place: Australia (Michael Lyon, Victoria; Patrick Chan, New South Wales; Michael Molinari, Western Australia)
  • Second place: United Kingdom
  • Third place: Canada[1]

1997

Location: Washington, D.C.

Dates: August 5-6

  • First place: Canada (Durgesh Saraph, Ontario; Rohan Verghese, Ontario; Armand Gaudry, British Columbia; Pierre-Marc Lanteigne, Quebéc)
  • Second place: Argentina
  • Third place: Russia[2]

1999

Location: Toronto, Ontario

Dates: August 10-11

  • First place: United States (David Beihl, Saluda, South Carolina; Jason Borschow, San Juan, Puerto Rico; John Kizer, Portsmouth, Ohio; Evan Sparks, Germantown, Tennessee)
  • Second place: Canada
  • Third place: Russia[3]

2001

Location: Vancouver, British Columbia

Dates: August 1-2

  • First place: United States (Kyle Haddad-Fonda, Bellevue, Washington; Nicholas Jachowski, Pukalani, Hawaii; Steven Young, Reston, Virginia; Joe Henry Legan, Haughton, Louisiana)
  • Second place: Canada
  • Third place: Hungary[4]

2003

Location: Tampa, Florida

Dates: July 15-16

  • First place: United States (Captain John Rice, Maddock, North Dakota; Dallas Simons, Nashville, Tennessee; Alexander Smith, Burlington, North Carolina)
  • Second place: Germany
  • Third place: France (Captain Vincent Lafon, Paris; Antony Lee, Les Ulis; Thibaut Decazes, Versailles)[5]

2005

Location: Budapest

Dates: July 11-14

  • First place: United States (Captain Andrew Wojtanik, Overland Park, Kansas; Jesse Weinberg, Coral Gables, Florida; Karan Takhar, North Attleboro, Massachusetts)
  • Second place: Russia (Captain Ivan Prokhorov; Vera Efremova; Renat Faritovich)
  • Third place: Canada (Captain Daniel Siracusa, Burnaby, BC; Nathan Friedman, Kamloops, BC; John Yao, Toronto, Ontario).[6]
  • Note: The UK team, captained by Simon Turner Jenkins, recorded a record low score

2007

Location: San Diego, California

Dates: August 5-10

  • First place: Mexico (Captain Angel Aliseda Alonso, Guadalajara; Carlos Franco Ruiz, Zapotlan de Juarez; Emanuel Johansen Campos, Tejalpa)
  • Second place: United States (Captain Matthew Vengalil, Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan; Neeraj Sirdeshmukh, Nashua, New Hampshire; Kelsey Schilperoort, Prescott, Arizona)
  • Third place: Canada (Captain Jonathan Whyte, Toronto, Ontario; Marky Freeman, Thornhill, Ontario; Maxim Ralchenko, Ottawa)[7]

[edit] Web source

  1. ^ National Geographic Bee & World Championship Geography Competitions
  2. ^ National Geographic Bee & World Championship Geography Competitions
  3. ^ National Geographic Bee & World Championship Geography Competitions
  4. ^ National Geographic Bee & World Championship Geography Competitions
  5. ^ National Geographic Bee & World Championship Geography Competitions
  6. ^ National Geographic Bee & World Championship Geography Competitions
  7. ^ National Geographic Bee & World Championship Geography Competitions

Note: These are all from the official page of the National Geographic World Championship.

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