The first medal
World Mental Calculation, which runs the scoring, published the full results on 15 September 2026. In the under-12 table, Mekan Nurgeldiyev of Turkmenistan appears third with 2,477 points, behind Arshika Gupta of India on 2,545 and Mohamed Imad Eddine Benyahia of Algeria on 2,488. Against that line the organisers noted the first medal for Turkmenistan.
Sixty-eight points separated first from third. In a division settled by a single two-hour paper, that margin represents a handful of questions rather than a class of difference, and it means the bronze was won inside a tight three-way contest rather than picked up at a distance from the leaders.
Four days in Bielefeld
The championship ran from 4 to 7 September 2026 in Bielefeld, Germany. Ninety-nine competitors took part from fifteen countries: Algeria, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Czechia, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, Panama, Serbia, Turkmenistan and the United Arab Emirates. Turkmenistan was one of the smaller delegations on that list and the only Central Asian country on it.
Competitors were divided into under-12, under-15 and under-20 brackets, with an alumni category alongside. Every bracket sat the same style of examination and was ranked on points, which is why the under-12 scores can be read directly against those of older competitors.
What the paper asks
The main contest is a two-hour paper of mental arithmetic with no written working: addition and subtraction, square roots, day-of-the-week calculation, approximate multiplication and division, and highest common factor and lowest common multiple problems. The published example of an addition task is 726446 + 294855, with the answer 1021301.
Problems of that size are ordinary on paper and merciless in the head. Accuracy matters more than flourish, because a single misplaced carry ruins an answer that took ten seconds to build. Sustaining it for two hours, across five different families of problem, is the actual test.
Where the score sits
The 2026 winners in the other divisions give the scale its meaning: Andrej Živanović of Serbia took the under-15 title with 2,817 points from a field of nearly fifty, and Kaloyan Geshev of Bulgaria the under-20 title with 3,045, achieved with only two errors on the whole paper. Radhika Maheshwari of India won the alumni category with 2,691.
Against that spread, 2,477 points from a competitor under twelve is a serious total on a serious paper. The organisers also recorded that the under-12 winning score surpassed the previous year's best of 2,416, so the whole podium in 2026 sat at or near a rising standard rather than a settled one.
What is documented — and what is not
The firm record is short: third place in the under-12 division, 2,477 points, at a championship held in Bielefeld from 4 to 7 September 2026, and the organisers' note that it was Turkmenistan's first medal at the event. All of it comes from the body that ran the competition.
There is nothing else. No age within the bracket, no date of birth, no home town, no school, no coach, no photograph and no interview appears in the source. The championship finished only weeks before this page was written, and no follow-up reporting on him has been published in the sources gathered here.
| Person | Country | Milestone | Age / Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mekan Nurgeldiyev | Turkmenistan | Under-12 bronze, Junior Mental Calculation World Championship 2026 | — |
| Granth Thakkar | India | Winning the Mental Calculation World Cup 2014 | — |
| Abhilakshya Arora | India | Winning the under-20 Junior Mental Calculation World Championship… | — |
| Arshika Gupta | India | Under-12 world champion, mental calculation, 2026 | — |
| Shashank Jain | India | Gold in 8-digit multiplication and square roots, Memoriad 2024 | — |
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- Third place, under-12 division, Junior Mental Calculation World Championship 2026, 2,477 points
- Recorded by the organisers as Turkmenistan's first medal at the championship
- Championship held 4–7 September 2026 in Bielefeld with 99 competitors from 15 countries
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- No date of birth, exact age, home town or school in the source
- No photograph, interview or personal detail published with the result
- No record of earlier results or of what follows the 2026 championship
Questions people ask about Mekan Nurgeldiyev
What did Mekan Nurgeldiyev win?
Bronze in the under-12 division of the Junior Mental Calculation World Championship 2026 in Bielefeld, Germany, with 2,477 points.
Why is the medal significant?
The organisers recorded it as the first medal Turkmenistan has won at the championship.
How old is Mekan Nurgeldiyev?
No source in this record states his age or date of birth. He competed in the under-12 bracket in September 2026.
Who won the under-12 division?
Arshika Gupta of India, with 2,545 points. Mohamed Imad Eddine Benyahia of Algeria took second with 2,488.
What does the competition involve?
A two-hour paper of mental arithmetic: addition and subtraction, square roots, day-of-the-week calculations, approximate multiplication and division, and HCF and LCM problems.
Is Mekan Nurgeldiyev on Wikipedia?
No Wikipedia article was found for him. The World Mental Calculation results page is the primary published record.
Where is he now?
No source in this record says. The championship took place only weeks before this page was written.
How many countries competed?
Fifteen, with ninety-nine competitors in total across the under-12, under-15, under-20 and alumni categories.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Nurgeldiyev’s story?
What made Mekan Nurgeldiyev's bronze notable?
How many points did he score?
How long is the main contest paper?
Sources
- Junior Mental Calculation World Championship 2026: Results — World Mental Calculation, 2026-09-15
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
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