Ruth Kozlovsky is an Israeli secondary-school student who won a gold medal at the 56th International Physics Olympiad, held in Bucaramanga, Colombia, from 4 to 12 July 2026.
She was in the tenth grade at the time and the youngest member of Israel's five-person delegation, competing at the Olympiad for the first time. Most competitors at the IPhO are two years further into their schooling.
Hers was the team's only gold. Her team-mates Noam Fleisig, Ahaya Kellner, Eitan Rothman and Elad Agmon all took silver, so every Israeli competitor returned with a medal — matching Israel's 2025 tally of one gold and four silvers.
The Israeli team trained at the Jusidman Science Center for Youth at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, under academic director Prof. Oleg Kryczevsky and head coach Pavel Radziwilovsky. The 2026 competition drew 381 students from 87 countries and tested contestants across thermodynamics, optics, particle physics and nuclear physics.
Her surname is transliterated as Kozlovsky in the International Physics Olympiad results database and as Kozlowski in some Israeli press coverage. Her exact age and date of birth have not been published.
| Person | Country | Milestone | Age / Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ruth Kozlovsky | 🇮🇱 Israel | Gold, 56th International Physics Olympiad — team's youngest member | 10th grade |
| Rayhona Tuymuradova | 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan | Gold, 58th International Chemistry Olympiad | Under 20 |
| Liu Jiawei | 🇨🇳 China | Gold, 38th International Olympiad in Informatics | Secondary school |
| Juha Oh | 🇰🇷 South Korea | Absolute winner, International Physics Olympiad 2026 | Age 18 |
Ruth Kozlovsky matters because of what her school year implies. The IPhO syllabus reaches well past the standard secondary curriculum, and national teams are usually built from students in their final year for exactly that reason. Winning gold two years early, on a first appearance, means she cleared material most competitors spend those two extra years absorbing — and it gives her two more cycles of eligibility ahead of her.
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