Waikato math whizz chasing fifth world title

A Waikato maths whiz will find out tomorrow if he has won his fifth world title in a row.

The marathon, 48-hour global online maths contest kicked off on Wednesday.

It sees Rangatahi compete in live, 60-second rounds in head-to-head matchups against other students around the world.

Students’ speed and accuracy are tested across 20 different levels of math.

Hamilton Year 9 student Woojin Kim had a lot to play for after already winning four consecutive titles and told Checkpoint he thought his attempt at another went “pretty good”.

He said he was already proud of his previous titles but will found out if he has another at 8am on Friday.

Questions in the contest range from 1 plus 1 to word problems, Kim said.

He said he gets through 141 questions for level 1 in 60 seconds, and at least 60 questions at level 8, which was the hardest.

In order to get through so many questions, Kim said he tried to answer without any hesitation.

He said he has been able to solve math problems “very fast” since Year 1.

Kim said his draw to maths simply comes from his interest in numbers.

“I just like speed and stuff … and solving questions,” he said.

Kim said during competition, he sometimes felt nervous, but also confident.

He said he kept focus by persuading others to stay quiet.

“It just works,” he said.

Kim said he practices as much as he can, every day, for at least 30 minutes.

He said he doesn’t usually get sick of maths unless it was not “a very good day”.

Aside from maths, Kim said he enjoyed playing golf and playing the piano.

“I like playing golf when I was like five-years-old and I kept playing because it’s not always easy,” he said.

“And for piano, I just like playing music.”

Kim said he hoped to continue playing golf and was keen on finding employment at the airport.

He said he would continue to pursue mathematics as long as he could.