India Wins All Five Gold Medals at International Physics Olympiad 2026

In a remarkable achievement for Indian science education, all five members of the Indian team won gold medals at the 56th International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) 2026 , held in Bucaramanga, Colombia , from July 5 to July 12. The feat places India among the world's top-performing nations and marks only the second time that the country has secured a clean sweep of five gold medals, the first being in 2018 .

The gold medallists are Kanishk Jain from Pune, Riddhesh Anant Bendale from Indore, Rishit Garg from Dwarka in New Delhi, Shresth Suraiya from Mumbai, and Svarit Joshi from Ahmedabad.

According to the Department of Atomic Energy, India finished joint first in the country-wise medals tally alongside China, Kazakhstan, Russia, South Korea, and Taiwan . The competition brought together 381 students from 85 countries , making the Indian team's performance even more significant.

The Olympiad consisted of a challenging five-hour theoretical examination covering topics ranging from thermodynamics and optics to atomic and quantum physics, followed by a demanding five-hour experimental test . Indian students excelled in both sections, with some achieving scores close to perfection in the theory paper.

The team was led by Prof. Anwesh Mazumdar of HBCSE-TIFR and Dr. Leena Joshi of St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, with support from scientific observers Prof. Ananda Dasgupta of IISER Kolkata and Ms. Nisha Kelkar of Gogate-Joglekar College, Ratnagiri.

India has now participated in the International Physics Olympiad 27 times , and its students have consistently performed among the world's best. Over the last decade, every Indian participant has won either a gold or silver medal, reflecting the strength of the country's Olympiad training programme and the extraordinary talent of its young scientists.