The Quest for High School Mathletic Glory

Chapter 31: Attrition race

"Jesus! I told you these comparisons between the USAMO, the TSTs and the IMO come from one of the national team coaches for the IMO!" Krista clamors with vehemence before Jennifer while she hands her the statement of the 2023 IMO, which she did with Geneviève as a dress reversal for the USAMO.

"The EGMO and the IMO, both the same, I accept" Jennifer comments, "but never did I imagine the USAMO to be that close to the IMO in terms of difficulty! To see how the AIME and the USAMO happened for you and your friends, they dropped like flies one after the other"

"All these competitions are as much math tests as they are endurance tests. If we lack mental endurance, maybe your future as a mathlete would instead be made of curricular contests or of speed contests. That said, on a proof contests, there is no shame to leave a problem blank if it's completely beyond our capabilities"

"I might have proven that I am adept enough in proofs to stand a chance in the highest mathletics echelons" Marcia adds, "I consider my mental gearbox as my greatest mathletic asset, so that I can have just the right mental speed for every occasion, that I know at what level of detail to go to solve a problem"

Later on, Marcia sends the homework and the class notes, without relying on Gen to complete these before late Sunday morning (Louisiana time) or Sunday night (Kutaisi time). Her friend may want to keep her mental energy to solve these six problems.

Let's hope that this practice run on the 2023 IMO will not make me shimmer a mirage! My teammates at home fell to give me a chance to compete in that one last contest so I must honor them here! And to honor everyone that supported me in this parish, in Louisiana and whoever else in the United States for whom I'm an academic inspiration source, Geneviève thinks, late at night, after the apero she did with the other girls the rest of the team met yesterday. And this Hungarian, Hajmal, who pushed Gen to rush yesterday for the second clue of a treasure hunt under the impression of dealing with a kleptomaniac.

More than for her, the culture shock is even greater for her teammates. At the onset, with Gen, they accepted her as an exceptional case, they acknowledged her place was well-deserved, but it's there they realize mathletic excellence isn't a question of race!

In the meantime, Lucy is detained at the Fairfax County Detention Center while awaiting a verdict. She might have recorded a guilty plea, her criminal record was blank until this overdose that looked like a failed suicide attempt. The young lady thinks her life is ruined because of her crime, however. To have been in possession of sufficient quantities of Ritalin for an overdose without prescription.

"My crime cheated me out of the EGMO! Right now, someone out there is solving math problems I should be solving!" Lucy laments in her cell.

"What the hell is the EGMO anyway?" asks a prison guard that knows nothing about girls' mathletics.

Even the residents of Geneviève's parish of origin still harbor false ideas of what the EGMO contains for questions, or of its format. Some people think it's about bursts of speed, others, solving college-level math problems, but the only thing all these false perceptions have in common is that it requires a lot of mathematical talent to compete, just not necessarily the same kind of talent.

Then Lucy is not surprised to hear the jailer ask what it is exactly, other than there are math problems on the menu. She abstains from talking about typical problems of this contest fearing the jailer won't understand anything.

Further, the parish newspaper also abstained from supplying problem statements from past USAMOs, EGMOs or IMOs for the same reason, despite the comparison games they played in the previous months.

"It's obvious to me you're much better at math than I am. You seem to be implying that the problems are hard, it makes me not want to see you solve one" the jailer speaks to Lucy.