Andy Dysart and Nat Christensen were selected to represent New Zealand at the 2010 International Geography Olympiad in Taipei last week, along with Conner McIver and Callum Dudson, both 17 and of Christchurch.
The team returned this week - Andy with a silver medal, placing him in the approximate top 25% of the competition, and Nat with a bronze medal for finishing in the top 50%.
Conner (17) also won a silver medal, and Callum (17) received a certificate of participation.
Andy said it was one of the best medal hauls a New Zealand team had achieved in the Olympiad's 16-year history.
The New Zealanders competed against teams from 26 other countries in a two-and-a-half-hour exam covering geographic issues from around the globe, fieldwork at the Guandu Wetlands in Taipei, mapping and report-writing based on the fieldwork, and a multi-choice geographic knowledge test.
Andy said the team made the most of the trip by befriending many people from the global community, which reinforced the modern values of globalisation and international tolerance.
They also went sight-seeing and spent time getting to know and dining with some of the local people.
