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Organizers at Uzbekistan’s 2026 International Olympiad in Informatics disqualified Yotam Budnik, an Israeli high school student from Rehovot, after he displayed the Israeli flag while accepting his gold medal.
Israeli participants were barred from competing under their national flag. Budnik, who said it was important for him to represent Israel, brought one anyway and unveiled it once he took the stage.
Despite his performance, Budnik was erased from the official leaderboard and had his recognition revoked.
Weeks earlier, he did the same at the International Mathematical Olympiad in Shanghai, China, where he had just won gold while openly competing for Israel.
Official results show Budnik finished 23rd among 666 competitors from 117 countries, scoring 33 of 42 points. The result gave him consecutive golds in mathematics, following a bronze in 2024.
Budnik called the restrictions political and maintained that the disqualification did not diminish his achievement.
The organizers later sought the return of Budnik’s medal. He would not hand it over.
PLEASE HELP MAKE THIS YOUNG MAN FAMOUS
Yotam Budnik is a 12th-grade student from Rehovot 🇮🇱 just won a gold medal at the International Olympiad in Informatics in Uzbekistan but was not allowed to compete under the Israeli flag.
When Yotam was awarded his medal 🏅 stepped onto… pic.twitter.com/BnhrUpBWEz
— Rabbi Poupko (@RabbiPoupko) August 18, 2026
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