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Mawhiba announced that Mohammed Nasser Al-Asmari earned the silver medal, marking the first time the Kingdom has reached that level at the competition that began in 1989. Sultan Abdulrahman Al-Aiban secured a bronze medal while Saad Bandar Al-Arifi received a certificate of recognition during the event hosted in Tashkent from August 9 to 16. The results bring Saudi Arabia’s overall IOI award total to 14, consisting of one silver, eight bronzes and five honorable mentions according to the official IOI statistics database that tracks performance since the country’s debut in 2010. Mawhiba coordinated the team’s preparation through specialized training programs run in partnership with the Ministry of Education.
The four-member delegation also featured Altayeb Alakhdhari competing in the algorithmic tasks that form the core of the six-hour contest rounds held over two days. This edition drew 375 contestants from 92 countries, making it a major global gathering for high school programmers as detailed on the IOI 2026 official site. Mawhiba has managed Saudi participation for multiple cycles, providing intensive camps that focus on advanced coding and problem-solving techniques required to medal at the highest tiers.
Saudi Arabia’s performance this year builds on previous appearances where the team collected only bronze medals and honorable mentions without breaching the silver threshold. The IOI secretariat data shows consistent involvement across eight prior editions before 2026, with the latest achievement coming through students from the Royal Commission for Jubail and Riyadh educational directorates. Tatweer Education Holding sponsored the training initiative that supported the contestants ahead of the Uzbekistan gathering.
Mawhiba highlighted the awards in its public statement released on the final day of the Olympiad, underscoring the role of national programs in developing computing talent. The foundation oversees selection processes that identify and prepare gifted students for such international contests each year. Its efforts align with broader initiatives to strengthen STEM education across Saudi schools, though specific expansion plans were not detailed in the announcement.
The competition itself emphasizes original algorithm design rather than rote knowledge, with gold, silver and bronze thresholds determined by overall scores out of 600 possible points as set by organizers. Saudi contestants have progressively improved their standing since first entering the field in 2010, according to cumulative records maintained by the IOI statistics portal. This latest success adds to the country’s growing profile in global science olympiads organized under similar formats.
Additional context from Mawhiba’s historical reviews shows the informatics team has contributed notably to the Kingdom’s tally in related Asian and international events over the past decade. The organization continues to run parallel programs for chemistry, biology and mathematics olympiads that have produced dozens of medals in recent years. Participation in the 2026 IOI represented another step in structured engagement with these prestigious platforms.
