СПбГУ Triumphant at ICPC World Finals 2025

Students from Saint Petersburg State University (SPbGU) have made history by winning the ICPC World Finals 2025, the largest student programming competition globally. This victory is the result of rigorous preparation, deep algorithmic knowledge, and effective task distribution within the team.

The university's press service and the Russian government announced the win on September 4, highlighting the high level of skill demonstrated by Russian students in international competitions. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko and Education Minister Valery Falkov personally congratulated the winners, emphasizing the importance of supporting talented youth and developing IT in the country.

The competition required participants to solve complex algorithmic problems within a strict time frame. In the final round, teams had just five hours to showcase their skills. The SPbGU team solved 11 out of 12 problems, securing a decisive victory over competitors.

The ICPC Finals brought together teams from over 70 countries and 140 universities worldwide. The competition demands not only deep knowledge of algorithms and data structures but also the ability to work collaboratively, distribute tasks, discuss strategies, and make quick decisions under pressure. Such events foster experience sharing and international collaboration among students.

The winning team, SPbGU Polar Bear Transform, included fourth-year undergraduates Maxim Turevsky and Leonid Danilevich, and first-year master's student Fedor Ushakov. Experienced coach Ivan Kazmenko led their preparation, noting the students' technical abilities and their capacity to work together under time pressure.

With a history spanning over 50 years, ICPC began in 1970 at Texas University. The modern format started in 1977 at the ACM informatics conference. Russian universities first participated in 1993 with the creation of the Eastern European region, and since then, Russian teams have consistently shown high levels of preparation and successfully competed internationally.

This victory demonstrates that Russian students can achieve outstanding results in mathematics and programming, competing at a global level and inspiring future generations to participate in olympiads and develop IT skills.