The comparison to chess is maybe more accurate than you think. See stuff like: Beginnings: The first IMO was held in Romania in 1959. It was initially founded for eastern European member countries of the Warsaw Pact, under the USSR bloc of influence, but later other countries participated as well.[2] (source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mathematical_Olympiad) Also classic geometry is (to my knowledge) taught more generally in many eastern European countries (and make up 1/6-1/3 of the imo).
Also the note about incentives being larger in North Korea also applies to much of eastern Europa to a lesser degree, where qualifying for imo is seemingly enough to get access to any university (source: Sankt Petersberg university gave an open offer at Baltic Way (a regional math competition), and i know someone who used something like that to get into Moscow university)
(Romania, Serbia, Poland, Russia, Ukraine Hungary are the eastern european countries with consistently good results)
A comparison to many Olympic sports also fits here as well. Just look at the success of Bulgaria in weightlifting throughout the 80s and 90s. Strong incentives, culture, coaching, and some cheating all played a role, just as I am guessing they do for IMO success.
Also the note about incentives being larger in North Korea also applies to much of eastern Europa to a lesser degree, where qualifying for imo is seemingly enough to get access to any university
I think that’s the case anywhere; qualifying for IMO is a pretty big deal.
At least the big Brittish schools this doesn’t clearly hold based on the experience of people i know. Granted the evidence i have is consistent with them only caring about silver or better.
Also my impression for the Russian schools was that not speaking Russian was a problem they were happy to work around (which certainly isn’t true everywhere)
The comparison to chess is maybe more accurate than you think.
See stuff like:
Beginnings: The first IMO was held in Romania in 1959. It was initially founded for eastern European member countries of the Warsaw Pact, under the USSR bloc of influence, but later other countries participated as well.[2] (source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mathematical_Olympiad)
Also classic geometry is (to my knowledge) taught more generally in many eastern European countries (and make up 1/6-1/3 of the imo).
Also the note about incentives being larger in North Korea also applies to much of eastern Europa to a lesser degree, where qualifying for imo is seemingly enough to get access to any university (source: Sankt Petersberg university gave an open offer at Baltic Way (a regional math competition), and i know someone who used something like that to get into Moscow university)
(Romania, Serbia, Poland, Russia, Ukraine Hungary are the eastern european countries with consistently good results)
A comparison to many Olympic sports also fits here as well. Just look at the success of Bulgaria in weightlifting throughout the 80s and 90s. Strong incentives, culture, coaching, and some cheating all played a role, just as I am guessing they do for IMO success.
I think that’s the case anywhere; qualifying for IMO is a pretty big deal.
At least the big Brittish schools this doesn’t clearly hold based on the experience of people i know. Granted the evidence i have is consistent with them only caring about silver or better.
Also my impression for the Russian schools was that not speaking Russian was a problem they were happy to work around (which certainly isn’t true everywhere)