Four Medals for Team New Zealand at the Economics Olympiad International Final Round 2026

Two silver medals and two bronze medals for the five-member New Zealand delegation in Ancient Olympia, Greece.

Team New Zealand has concluded the Economics Olympiad International Final Round 2026 with an outstanding set of results, with four of its five students receiving medals at the international competition.

Team New Zealand — IFR 2026 Medal Results

Silver Medals

• Joshua Wang — Rangitoto College

• Jonathan Hu — Auckland Grammar School

Bronze Medals

• Aarush Kumar — Auckland Grammar School

• Josh Li — Kristin School

This year, the Economics Olympiad attracted 160,555 students worldwide. From that global field, 147 students representing 30 delegations progressed to the International Final Round in Ancient Olympia, Greece.

At the IFR, the medal allocation comprised just 10 gold, 20 silver and 20 bronze medals.

Against this international field, New Zealand secured four medals across a five-member delegation.

From New Zealand to an international stage

The results are significant, but the numbers tell only part of the story.

For Team New Zealand, reaching the International Final meant travelling from one side of the world to the other, undertaking an exceptionally long journey from New Zealand to Greece before adapting almost immediately to a nine-hour time difference, a new environment and an intensive competition schedule.

Once in Ancient Olympia, students faced written examinations in Microeconomics, Macroeconomics and Financial Literacy, as well as the Economics Policy Challenge, which required them to apply economic thinking, analysis and communication beyond a traditional examination setting.

They did so alongside young economists from around the world, with delegations including China, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Poland, the United Kingdom, Canada, Thailand, Vietnam, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, among many others.

Throughout the week, the New Zealand students approached the competition with focus, maturity and composure, while carrying the additional responsibility of representing their schools and their country on an international academic stage.

Pursuing excellence in Ancient Olympia

There could hardly have been a more meaningful setting for an Olympiad.

The 2026 International Final was hosted at the International Olympic Academy in Ancient Olympia, within walking distance of the archaeological site where the ancient Olympic Games were held and the ancient stadium in which athletes once competed.

For more than two millennia, Olympia has been associated with the pursuit of excellence through competition.

At the opening of this year's International Final, Economics Olympiad Deputy Director Christos Manesiotis drew that connection directly for the 147 finalists gathered in the Conference Hall:

“You're now in their shoes pursuing excellence, not in sports, but in the field of economics.”

It was a particularly fitting description of what brought these students to Ancient Olympia.

Where athletes once travelled from across the ancient Greek world to test themselves against their peers, this year's students travelled from across the modern world with a different discipline in mind — economics.

The arena had changed.

The pursuit of excellence had not.

For five young New Zealanders who had travelled thousands of kilometres to be there, competing in such a place gave the International Final a significance extending well beyond the examination room.

More than a medal

An International Olympiad is ultimately about more than the final medal table.

Over the course of the IFR, students were challenged to work independently, think under pressure, apply economics to unfamiliar contexts and communicate ideas alongside peers whose educational and cultural experiences could be very different from their own.

Just as importantly, the International Final brought together students who share an unusually strong interest in economics at secondary-school level.

Between examinations and academic challenges, Team New Zealand had opportunities to meet students from other delegations, exchange perspectives and experience what it means to be part of an international community of young economists.

That is difficult to capture in a result alone.

The four medals recognise academic performance. The wider experience — competing internationally, representing New Zealand, encountering different perspectives and learning alongside students from around the world — is something all five members of the delegation take home with them.

A result New Zealand can be proud of

After the preparation, the selection process, the journey across the world and four intensive days in Ancient Olympia, two silver medals and two bronze medals from a five-student delegation is a result worth celebrating.

We warmly congratulate:

Joshua Wang — Silver Medal

Jonathan Hu — Silver Medal

Aarush Kumar — Bronze Medal

Josh Li — Bronze Medal

We also recognise all five members of Team New Zealand for the commitment, resilience and professionalism with which they represented New Zealand throughout the International Final.

From New Zealand to Ancient Olympia, they joined a tradition centred on challenging oneself, meeting worthy peers and pursuing excellence.

This time, not on the track or in the stadium —

but in the field of economics.

Congratulations, Team New Zealand. 🇳🇿

Economics Olympiad International Final Round 2026

Ancient Olympia, Greece