Indonesian students won gold and silver medals in the annual International Physics Olympiad (IPhO), held in Yogyakarta from July 17 to 24.

Gold medals were won by Gerry Widiarto and Ferris Prima Hutama, students of SMA Unggulan MH Thamrin state senior high school Jakarta and Penabur Gading Serpong Christian high school, respectively. Silver medals were won by Bonfilio Nainggolan, Faizal Husni and Fikri Makarim Sosrianto, students of SMA 48, Kharisma Bangsa South Tangerang high school and IT Albinaa IBS Bekasi high school, respectively.

The competition offered 64 gold, 72 silver and 102 bronze medals and 73 honorable mentions. Approximately 400 students from 86 countries participated. China’s Haoyang Gao won the best theory award and Japan’s Akihiro Watanabe best experiment. They were declared the absolute winners

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Alhamdulillah..Indonesia brhasil meraih 2 medali emas & 3 medali perak dlm Olimpiade Fisika Internasional #IPhO2017 ,bersaing dgn 86 negara pic.twitter.com/hNwdeEgcap

— Kemendikbud (@Kemdikbud_RI) July 23, 2017

“This competition could be an inspiration for the 53 million students in Indonesia, or even for students across the globe, in developing science and technology, particularly in the physics field,” said the Culture and Education Ministry's director general for elementary and secondary education, Hamid Muhammad, as quoted by Antara news agency.

IPhO 2017 secretary Syamsul Rosyid said the difficulty level of the competition was quite high. “None of the students’ scores exceeded 40 of the total 50 points. Usually participants are able to reach the 44 or 45 mark in other countries,” he said.

Indonesia brought home one gold and four silver medals from last year's IPhO, which was held in Switzerland. The 2018 competition will be held in Lisbon, Portugal. (mas/kes)