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Geography Challenge
International 2009
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| 2009 World Champions: Team Canada |
Canada takes gold at National Geographic World Championship
MEXICO CITY (July 15, 2009)-Defeating teams from 14 other regions, Canada took top honors at the ninth National Geographic World Championship
held today at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. The United States came second, and Poland, just one point
behind the United States, was third. This is the second time Canada has won the geography competition. It was victorious at the
third National Geographic World Championship in 1997, when it beat eight other teams in Washington, D.C.
The presenting sponsor of this year’s international contest organized by the National Geographic
Society was Telmex Foundation, with supporting sponsorship from the Mexican Academy of Sciences, CONACYT, JW Marriott Mexico City and Televisa Foundation.
The Canadian team comprised Peter Brandt, 15, of Sainte Anne, Manitoba; Christopher Chiavatti, 15, of Burnaby, British Columbia; and
Graham Tompkins, 16, of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The U.S. team members were Kenji Golimlim, 11, of Southgate, Michigan; Milan Sandhu,
15, of Bedford, New Hampshire; and Eric Yang, 13, of The Colony, Texas. Poland’s team members were Piotr Byrski, 16, of Lodygowice, Slaskie;
Wojciech Kaczmarczyk, 16, of Racibòrz, Slaskie; and Gabriel Stachura, 16, of Lublin, Lubelskie.
In an Olympics-style ceremony, medals were awarded to the first-, second- and third-placed teams. Alex Trebek, host of the U.S. television quiz show
“Jeopardy!”, moderated today’s finals.
Canada, the United States and Poland qualified for the final round after obtaining the highest combined scores in a written contest on Sunday
and in Monday’s preliminary activity that included a hands-on map activity. Canada was the highest scorer in these earlier rounds.
Students were eligible to take part in the World Championship competition by winning or being a top finisher in the national competitions of their
home regions. The 12 other teams competing this year were from Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chinese Taipei, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Mexico,
Romania, Russia, Slovakia and the United Kingdom.
— National Geographic
• Read about Team Canada’s performance »
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