On November 3rd, the list of winners of the Alibaba Global Mathematics Competition was officially announced, with a total of 86 players receiving awards. Interestingly, the much-touted “math genius” Jiang Ping did not win any award. In response to this, Jiang Ping’s alma mater also issued a report regarding the handling of the situation involving her.
According to the official website of the Damo Academy, the Alibaba Global Mathematics Competition organizing committee released a statement on November 3rd, announcing the official list of award winners. Among the 86 awardees, 5 received gold awards, 10 received silver awards, 20 received bronze awards, and 51 received honorable mentions.
The statement mentioned that during this competition, a teacher named Wang from Jiangsu Liangshui Vocational School and his guided students made it to the finals, which drew public attention. However, based on the final evaluation results, neither of them received any awards. Further investigations revealed that Wang had violated the rules by assisting his students during the preliminary round, which prohibited discussing with others. This incident also exposed issues with the competition system not being foolproof and the lack of rigorous management.
On the same day, Jiangsu Liangshui Vocational School issued a report stating that during the 2024 Alibaba Global Mathematics Competition preliminary round, teacher Wang assisted his students in violation of the rule prohibiting discussion with others. After careful consideration, the school gave Wang a warning and disqualified him from receiving any honors this year.
Jiang Ping, a student at Jiangsu Liangshui Vocational School, made headlines in June with a perfect score in the preliminary round of the 2024 Alibaba Global Mathematics Competition, receiving high-profile publicity from official media. However, her success sparked widespread skepticism.
Public records indicate that Jiang Ping is from Liangshui County, Huai’an, Jiangsu Province. She enrolled at Jiangsu Liangshui Vocational School in 2022, majoring in Fashion Design and Craft. According to media reports, Jiang Ping’s grandparents have passed away, her father worked outside their hometown for years, her mother suffered from a disease, and their family’s financial situation is not considered affluent.
On April 13, Jiang Ping, her teacher Wang Runqiu, and Wang’s wife Zhou Yingying participated in the preliminary round of the 2024 Alibaba Global Mathematics Competition.
On June 13, the final list of contestants was announced, with Jiang Ping scoring 93 out of 120, ranking 12th globally and becoming the first vocational student to reach the finals, as well as the only girl among the top 30 contestants.
Subsequently, the official Chinese media outlet, People’s Daily, posted an article about Jiang Ping on Weibo, leading to many other official media outlets reposting and referring to her as a “genius” and “prodigy.”
Moreover, a half-body picture of Jiang Ping was displayed at Wuyue Square in Liangshui County. The local village committee arranged for Jiang Ping’s father, Jiang Yuhua, to work on straw patrolling and even repaired the walls of their house with hollow bricks.
Following Jiang Ping’s rise to fame, numerous universities posted congratulations on social media and welcomed her to apply. The education authorities in Jiangsu also responded positively to these developments.
On June 22, Jiang Ping participated in the final round of the 2024 Alibaba Global Mathematics Competition online. According to reports from China National Radio, Jiang Ping’s success in reaching the finals can be attributed to her unique mathematical talent and the dedicated guidance of her mentor, mathematics teacher Wang Runqiu.
However, Jiang Ping’s achievements came under scrutiny when 42 finalists of the Alibaba Mathematics Competition jointly questioned the authenticity of her results, urging the organizers to conduct an investigation.
On June 28, content related to Jiang Ping was deleted from Baidu Baike, and official media outlets such as Xinhua News Agency, CCTV.com, Xinhuanet, and Sichuan Communists Youth League deleted videos of Jiang Ping. On July 1, platforms including Bilibili and Douyin limited searches so that recent videos about Jiang Ping cannot be found.
In September, rumors spread that Jiang Ping had dropped out of school and started working at a local hat factory in Liangshui. It wasn’t until November 3 that Jiangsu Liangshui Vocational School issued a formal report on the matter.