Interview with winners of the Logical Olympiad 2015

Zuzana Kořínková

After the award ceremony and handing over the prizes for the victories in the competition, the winners were photographed and informally interviewed, to get their impressions after they won in their categories.

What are your immediate impressions?

Martin: Super. Though I would have thought I would finish fifth...

Václav: Right, I didn’t expect it this year, either. I had a really bad feeling about many tasks, especially the interactive ones. I would definitely not have bet on my victory.

Ondřej: I expected a worse result, too. Some tasks did not sit well with me, but it is true that others, such as pouring water between containers, were right up my alley. It probably evened out a bit.

Did you prepare for the competition in any way?

Václav: When I was here the first and the second time, I trained a lot. I was doing quizzes such as “Train your brain with Mensa” etc. This time, however, I needed some rest, so I haven’t trained much.

Martin: My greatest training was probably the nomination and regional rounds.

Ondřej: I’d say that I especially drew on my experience from the previous years, but I also do Sudoku and other puzzles in my free time, so I think that has helped a bit.

Do you think it is possible at all to prepare for the tasks and to learn them over time?

Václav: I think one cannot really prepare for them, it is rather about the immediate performance, improvising. As if you were thrown in the water at the deep end and left there – you just have to manage as best you can.

Ondřej: I believe that tasks such as the already mentioned water pouring can be partially learned – once you know and understand the principle, it is easier. It is however worse with memory tasks.

Martin: Oh, yeah, memory tasks are really a pain for me. And they are really hard to learn.

What was your strongest experience from this year of the Olympiad?

Ondřej: I have to say that my strongest experience is from last year’s Olympiad, when I was stuck on the train in Česká Třebová because of ice. But this year, it was probably the tasks with pouring the water, those were really right up my alley.

Martin: My greatest experience from this year is undoubtedly the fact that I have won.

Václav: And mine were the apples we had for lunch.

And if you could send a word, for example, to some of your friends who are not sure whether or not to participate in the Logical Olympiad, what would you tell them?

Ondřej: Probably: “Try it, it costs you nothing!” But I would definitely not force anyone into anything, it is not everyone’s cup of tea.

Martin: Well, I have no friends who have not tried the Logical Olympiad.

Václav: That’s true, at our school, everyone participates in the Logical Olympiad. But I would definitely recommend it to everyone.

Interview with winners of the Logical Olympiad 2015

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