The result
The olympiad is two papers on consecutive mornings, three problems each, four and a half hours per paper, every problem marked out of seven. Forty-two is the ceiling, and everyone who reaches it is listed as joint first. Sharafetdinova's line in the 2022 results carries six sevens and a gold medal.
The other maximums that year belonged to Cheng Jiang, Yubo Liao, Jiayu Liu, Xiaoyu Qu, Yiran Zhang and Zhicheng Zhang of China, Yuya Oki of Japan, Ihor Pylaiev of Ukraine and Quy Dang Ngo of Vietnam. Ten perfect papers is the widest spread in the years examined for this file; two years later, in Bath, only one contestant in the world managed it.
A rarity within a rarity
Perfect scores are rare. Perfect scores by female contestants are rarer still, because the IMO's field has been overwhelmingly male throughout its history. National teams hold six places each, and in most years the great majority of those places across the whole competition go to boys.
That is the context in which the 2022 result is usually cited. This page does not have a source that counts the women in the Oslo field or lists every female perfect scorer in the competition's history, and so it does not claim a first of any kind. What the database shows is a maximum score, and the rarity of a woman's name beside one is visible to anyone who reads down the list.
The missing country
The official results table prints no country beside Sharafetdinova's name. That is not an error and not a mystery: at the 2022 olympiad, Russian contestants competed without a national designation following the invasion of Ukraine, taking part as individuals rather than under a flag.
The research file for this page lists her as Russian and flags the nationality as requiring confirmation for exactly this reason. This page follows that file while stating the limitation plainly: the primary source records the score, not the country.
What Oslo asked of the field
The 2022 papers produced an unusual distribution. Ten maximums at the top suggests problems that rewarded strong preparation rather than a single flash of insight, and the presence of six Chinese contestants among them reflects a selection system that runs through years of national competition.
The olympiad's own rules keep the medal ratios fixed however the paper falls: at most half the contestants take medals, awarded roughly one gold to two silvers to three bronzes. Difficulty moves the scores; it does not move the proportions.
What is documented, and what is not
Documented by the IMO's database: the host city of Oslo, the field of 589, the six problem scores, the total of 42, the joint first rank and the gold medal.
Not documented: her age or date of birth, which is why this page gives no birth year; her school or city; her nationality as printed by the competition; and anything she has done since 2022. No later olympiad appearance appears in the results consulted here, and no press coverage naming her was collected for this file.
| Person | Country | Milestone | Age / Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Galiia Sharafetdinova | Russia | A perfect 42/42 at the International Mathematical Olympiad, 2022 | — |
| Colin Shanmo Tang | United States | A perfect 42/42 at the International Mathematical Olympiad, 2019 | — |
| Youngjun Cho | South Korea | A perfect 42/42 at the International Mathematical Olympiad, 2019 | — |
| Ihor Pylaiev | Ukraine | A perfect 42/42 at the International Mathematical Olympiad, 2022 | — |
| Quy Dang Ngo | Vietnam | A perfect 42/42 at the International Mathematical Olympiad, 2022 | — |
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- Scored 42/42 at IMO 2022 in Oslo, joint first, gold medal
- Seven points on each of the six problems
- One of ten perfect papers among 589 contestants
- The official results table lists her without a country
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- Nationality is not printed by the IMO; the research file gives Russia and asks for confirmation
- No age, date of birth or school in these sources
- No later IMO appearance or career information recorded
Questions people ask about Galiia Sharafetdinova
What did Galiia Sharafetdinova achieve?
A perfect score of 42 out of 42 at the 2022 International Mathematical Olympiad in Oslo, ranking joint first with a gold medal.
Why is no country listed next to her name?
Russian contestants competed without a national designation at the 2022 olympiad. The official table records her score but not a country.
How old is Galiia Sharafetdinova?
No age or date of birth appears in the sources used here.
How many contestants scored 42 in 2022?
Ten, out of 589 contestants.
Is a perfect score by a woman unusual at the IMO?
Yes. The field is overwhelmingly male, so a woman's name beside a maximum is rare, though this page has no source counting how often it has happened.
Is Galiia Sharafetdinova on Wikipedia?
No standalone article is recorded for her in this file.
Did she compete at the IMO again?
No later appearance is recorded in the results used here.
Where is Galiia Sharafetdinova now?
The sources used here do not say.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Sharafetdinova’s story?
What was Galiia Sharafetdinova's score at IMO 2022?
Where was the 2022 IMO held?
How many perfect papers were written in 2022?
Sources
- IMO 2022 individual results — International Mathematical Olympiad (official), 2022
- Galiia Sharafetdinova - IMO contestant results — International Mathematical Olympiad (official), 2022
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
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