Bangladesh Wins Historic Three Gold Medals at Asia-Pacific AI Olympiad 2026

Bangladesh has made history in the inaugural edition of the prestigious Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Olympiad (APOAI), securing an exceptional three gold medals against competitors from 18 countries.

Competing against 129 talented participants from technologically advanced nations including China, Russia, Singapore, Japan and Iran, Bangladeshi students delivered one of the strongest performances of the competition.

Out of the total 10 gold medals awarded, Bangladesh secured three—more than any other participating nation—marking a major achievement for the country in artificial intelligence education and innovation.

The gold medal winners from Bangladesh are Labib Shahriar of Homna Adarsha High School, Md. Saiduzzaman Araf of Moulvibazar Government College, and Tridib Roy Arya of Notre Dame College. They achieved 4th, 5th and 9th positions respectively in the final international rankings.

Four additional team members received honorable recognition for their performance, while the remaining participants also demonstrated strong competitiveness throughout the event.

Labib Shahriar, expressing his feelings about winning the gold, said, "When I saw 'Labib Shahriar - Gold Medal' next to my name on the results list, for a moment, I felt like the happiest person on Earth. My performance in the competition was good, so I was hoping for either a silver or gold medal. I was almost certain of silver and only hoping for gold. Now, actually winning the gold medal, the feeling is indescribable. Winning a gold medal for Bangladesh in the first edition of Asia's most prestigious Artificial Intelligence (AI) Olympiad and bringing this glory to the country fills me with immense joy and pride. This achievement was possible through the collective efforts of many people. I am sincerely grateful to BDOSN, the Bangladesh AI Olympiad Committee, and the APOAI organizing committee for making this event a reality."

Another gold medalist, Md. Saiduzzaman Araf, expressed his feelings, saying, "Winning for myself was never a big deal, but when you compete for your country, it's completely different. Today, when I saw 'Gold' next to my name in the results and noticed the map of Bangladesh on the official T-shirt, it truly felt good. This victory is not just mine; it's Bangladesh's. We achieved it today, and those who come after us will too, and ultimately, the identity will remain the same: Bangladeshi."

Tridib Roy Arya, another gold medalist, stated, "I am truly delighted to have won a gold medal at APOAI. I am extremely proud to have upheld the dignity of my country and homeland. I seek everyone's prayers and blessings for my future endeavors."

"This unprecedented success at the inaugural Asia Pacific AI Olympiad marks a historic moment for Bangladesh!" stated Munir Hasan, President of Bangladesh Open Source Network. "While no other country in the entire Asia Pacific region secured more than two gold medals, our students alone achieved three! This is a moment of immense pride and joy for us. The way BDOSN Team, despite various limitations and challenges, successfully organized this entire event is truly commendable. My heartfelt congratulations to the entire team and the winners!"

Professor Dr. B. M. Moinul Hossain, team leader and Director of the Institute of Information Technology at Dhaka University, expressed his delight and pride at the Bangladeshi team's extraordinary achievement. He remarked, "This result fills us with hope. The activities we have been carrying out amidst various obstacles become meaningful through the excellent performance of our competitors. This is not just our achievement; it is a strong declaration of Bangladesh's intellectual presence on the global stage." He added, "Whatever it takes, we will continue to organize artificial intelligence training and competitions for our students and the next generation."

Dr. Md. Azam Khan, the Bangladesh team's coach and Associate Professor at Daffodil International University, said, "Team Bangladesh's outstanding success is a source of pride for all of us. The relentless hard work, courage, perseverance, and strong determination of our students to give their best for the country are the core foundations of this historic achievement. Through regional and national qualifiers, training camps, and intensive practice, our eight talented students demonstrated exceptional dedication and problem-solving skills. Their eagerness to learn, curiosity, and rapid improvement during practice sessions deeply inspired me. We didn't just participate in a competition; we represented the AI and machine learning skills of Bangladeshi youth on the world stage. I believe this experience will lay the groundwork for many more international successes in the future."

Tasnim Mahfuz Nafis, the academic coordinator of the Bangladesh team, stated, "I am incredibly delighted with the performance of everyone in the Bangladesh team. Among the four problems at this year's APOAI, one was in the astronomy domain, one involved audio processing, another was related to wildlife imagery, and the remaining problem was in the chemistry domain. Therefore, no matter which domain a high school or college student dreams of working in the future, proficiency in AI and machine learning will give them a significant head start. This is because creating new knowledge in any domain requires working with vast amounts of data. A high school student, after learning a bit of Python, can easily begin hands-on machine learning on the Kaggle platform. This wonderful opportunity wasn't possible even a mere decade ago."

The competition was held online on June 13 under international monitoring standards, including video proctoring and screen recording. Participants solved four machine-learning-based challenges over a six-hour contest period.

//DBTech/MM/EK//