His teenage years are not even behind him, but Daan de Groot from Assen can already call himself a great math genius. He was allowed to travel to Japan to represent our country at the Olympiad, the most prestigious mathematics competition in the world.
“Mathematics is mainly about practicing and completing assignments. The more you practice, the more insight you gain.” These are the lessons that De Groot has learned so far as a math talent. De Groot’s dedication to the profession was instilled at an early age. “I’ve always really enjoyed it. You can do a lot with mathematics,” he underlines.
The combination of talent, tirelessness and perseverance allowed him to manifest himself on the world stage, among the greatest of his age.
“Teams from all kinds of countries participate in the international Olympiad. There may have been a hundred of them,” he recalls. “It was very fortunate that it was organized in Japan this year. Because Japan is a nice place to go.”
De Groot stayed there with the Dutch team for two weeks. Two of these were competition days. Supplemented with other activities, such as excursions and games, a more than successful trip. “This year we did quite well as the Netherlands,” he says. “Not the very best country, but in the top half. I think that has only happened once before.”
An above-average performance that was partly achieved thanks to De Groot. “I was joint second among the Dutch.”