A story about my long path to win the National Olympiad in Informatics.

Proofs (in Russian)

• official results of the final stage of the National Olympiad in Informatics
• approximate total number of participants

Lucky chance to start

Since 2014 I was studying in “Intellectual” school, where I first met my coach Elena Andreeva. She is the trainer and manager of Russian and Moscow teams in Competitive Programming. I was one of her students in “Intellectual” where she was also teaching. She inspired me to study deeply algorithms&data structures and facilitates me by both mentorship and invitations to the state training camps. Her help is invaluable to me. It’s mere luck to know her.

On the path

Since 6th grade, I have been assiduously studying Competitive Programming. It was quite difficult to combine profound study at school with numerous training camps. My preparation for the olympiads was not limited to them, I also master CS at home myself. These efforts allowed me to become a prize-winner of half-final in 2016 (7th grade).

Great fail

Seasonal skill fluctuations are normal for sport. I was too proud of my previous achievement to restore my skills after a month or two of proper summer vacations. Avoidance of problems did not solve it. Thus, I even did not repeat my previous result.

Per aspera

I was ashamed of my mistake. I felt the need for self-rehabilitation upon my coach. I was deeply determined to do it by winning the final stage of the Olympiad in 2018. The impossibility of reaching the goal fascinated me. With the help of a new mentor Vasiliy Alferov I studied Competitive Programming more than 20 hours per week. It may not seem a lot, but on the other hand, my school program was about 35 academic hours per week. So, it required quite a good time management to combine effectively.

Ad astra

With the mere fortune, I was the last invited person to the final stage of the Olympiad in 2018. I prepared quite well for the final, but due to low stress dealing skills I lost. I did not give up! So, I learned how to deal with stress and panic. I knew, that in the end, I would win. As a result of 5 years-long effort, I won in 2019.

Epilogue

With the successful end of my competitive career, my soul has terrified. I got used to being a part of this sport. I felt a lack of it in my life as something improper. But it’s time to go on. To new horizons!