Thirty-seven points out of forty-two
The IMO marks six problems out of seven points each, so a perfect paper is 42. Volkova's row reads 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 2. Five clean solutions, and two points of partial credit on the sixth problem. Finishing a paper that way is a particular kind of result: nothing was half-understood, and the only thing standing between her and a near-perfect score was the single hardest question on the paper.
That total placed her joint twelfth in the world. She shared it exactly with Arjun Gupta and Atul Shatavart Nadig of India and with Aleksandr Gnusov, all four of them on 37, all four holding gold medals. Above them sat a small group: five contestants had produced perfect 42s, and a handful more had scored 38 or higher.
The row with no flag
The omission beside her name is not unique to her. The 2023 table carries six results with no country code at all: Aleksandr Gnusov and Volkova on 37, Ratibor Koptilin and Roman Kuznetsov on 36, Eldar Khisamutdinov on 35, and Pavel Prozorov on 28. Five of those six took gold medals. The results page does not explain the blank column.
The record compiled for this page places Volkova in Russia. The official table neither confirms nor contradicts that; it simply records a name, six scores, a rank and a medal. This page reports both facts rather than resolving them, because no source gathered here explains why the field was left empty.
What twelfth in the world was worth in 2023
Scale is what gives an olympiad result its weight. The 64th IMO drew 618 contestants, each of them already the survivor of a national selection process that in most countries runs through several rounds and several hundred candidates. The competition in Chiba was not the start of the sorting; it was the end of it.
Within that field, 2023 was a strong year at the top. Five contestants finished on a perfect 42: Haojia Shi and Chunji Wang of China, Junhwi Bae of South Korea, David-Andrei Anghel of Romania and Derek Liu of the United States. Volkova's 37 was five points short of the ceiling and still inside the top twenty.
What the table records — and what it does not
The firm facts are the score, the per-problem breakdown, the rank, the medal, the year and the host city, all published by the organisers themselves. A competition result stated by the competition is about as reliable as documentation gets, and it does not depend on any journalist having been in the room.
The table is also the whole of the record. It gives no age, no date of birth, no school, no photograph and no city. Nothing in the sources gathered here says what Volkova studied afterwards, where she went, or whether she returned to the olympiad. Those gaps are listed as gaps rather than filled with plausible guesses.
Why the sixth problem decides the order
The IMO sets its six problems in two papers of three, and the third problem on each paper is designed to be beyond most of the field. The effect is visible in the 2023 results: dozens of contestants have five sevens against their name and a small number in the last column. The final ranking is settled less by who can do olympiad mathematics than by who can do the hardest question on the day.
That structure is why a score like 37 is worth stating precisely rather than rounding up to a gold medal. Gold is awarded to roughly the top twelfth of the field, and it spans a wide range of totals. Volkova's particular 37 puts her in the narrow band immediately beneath the perfect papers, which is a materially different result from a medal at the cut-off.
| Person | Country | Milestone | Age / Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alisa Volkova | Russia | She solved five of the six problems outright and finished twelfth in the w | — |
| Junghun Ju | South Korea | A perfect score at the International Mathematical Olympiad | — |
| Amber Li | Australia | Three consecutive EGMO gold medals | — |
| Aida Mitroi | Romania | Three consecutive EGMO gold medals | — |
| Qiao Zhang | United States | Thirty-nine points out of forty-two, seventh in the world, and first on th | — |
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- 37 points of 42 at the 2023 IMO, joint 12th, gold medal (official IMO results)
- Per-problem scores of 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 2
- Competed at the 64th IMO in Chiba, Japan, in a field of 618
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- The official table lists no country against her name and gives no explanation
- No age, birth year, school or city is published in these sources
- No record of what she has done since 2023
Questions people ask about Alisa Volkova
What did Alisa Volkova achieve?
A gold medal at the 2023 International Mathematical Olympiad with 37 points out of 42, placing joint twelfth among 618 contestants.
Why is there no country next to her name?
The official 2023 results table leaves the country column blank for six contestants, including her, and does not explain why. The record compiled for this page places her in Russia.
How old is Alisa Volkova?
No source in this record gives her age or birth year. The IMO results table publishes names, scores, ranks and medals only.
What was her score on each problem?
Seven out of seven on problems one to five, and two out of seven on problem six.
How many people won gold in 2023?
The source used here does not state the total. Gold at the IMO is awarded to approximately the top twelfth of the field, which in 2023 numbered 618 contestants.
Who won the 2023 IMO?
Five contestants finished on a perfect 42: Haojia Shi and Chunji Wang of China, Junhwi Bae of South Korea, David-Andrei Anghel of Romania and Derek Liu of the United States.
Is Alisa Volkova on Wikipedia?
No Wikipedia article was found for her. The source used here is the official IMO results table.
Where is Alisa Volkova now?
No source in this record says. The documented trail is a single row in the 2023 results.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Volkova’s story?
How many points did Alisa Volkova score at IMO 2023?
Where was the 2023 IMO held?
What is unusual about her row in the results table?
Sources
- IMO 2023 individual results — International Mathematical Olympiad, 2023
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
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