August 13, 2025
In July of this summer, Grade 7 student Alexander D. ’31 took part in the International History Olympiad in Paris, France, where he won a gold medal in the Hextathlon team event, finished 7th in the History Bee, and came in 19th overall individually! He was also selected to carry the Virginia flag during the opening ceremony.
The Olympiad took place at the École Jeannine Manuel, a high school not far from the Eiffel Tower. It featured 432 contestants from all over the world, competing in a mix of individual tests and buzzer events similar to Quiz Bowl. It was a friendly competition, with contestants exchanging pins and chatting before matches. “We liked to talk about politics,” Alexander says, “but the adults kept telling us not to.”
This is Alexander’s second Olympiad, after competing in last year’s International Geography Olympiad in Vienna, Austria. He reached Paris by coming in second at regionals and making the quarterfinals of the national competition in Orlando. Alexander says he first became interested in history during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he spent a lot of time watching documentaries. He thought Grade 4 history was fun, and in Grade 5, he joined the Quiz Bowl team at BASIS Independent McLean and specialized in history. One of the parent coaches suggested he try out for the international competition.
His time in Europe was not all about competing. Alexander took advantage of the chance to visit historical sites: the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Black Forest in Germany, and the castles of “Mad” King Ludwig II in Bavaria. A special highlight was seeing Albert Einstein’s PhD thesis paper in Zurich. He also loved the food, saying, “I enjoyed eating at French restaurants, especially the duck confit and steak frites. I also tried my mom’s escargot, which didn’t taste as bad as I thought it would.”
Congratulations to Alexander from everyone here at BIM!
