Medals for top teen biologists
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Three teenagers from Bucklands Beach have earned medals at this year's International Biology Olympiad in Taiwan.
Jack Zhou, Richard Chou and Benjamin Bai were members of the New Zealand team along with Vicky Tai from St Cuthbert's College in Epsom.
Jack won New Zealand's first-ever gold medal at the Olympiad and is now ranked 21st in the world.
Benjamin won a silver medal and Richard won a bronze. Both boys attend Macleans College.
Jack lives in Bucklands Beach and went to Macleans College before attending Auckland International College where he is head boy.
Jack was also awarded a full scholarship to Princeton University in the United States earlier in the year.
The Olympiad saw the four young biologists compete against teams from 58 other countries in practical assessments and theory examinations.
To be selected for the team the students had to take part in a gruelling eight-day training and selection camp as well as sitting exams.
"We took the entrance exam to get into the tutorials last year," Benjamin says. "There was another selection exam to get into the camp, another two exams at the camp and finally the best were chosen to be on the team."
The team arrives back in New Zealand on Saturday.
- © Fairfax NZ News
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