"This year the problems required not only programming skills, but also good algorithmic knowledge and good mathematical background."
--Jan Madey, Coach of World Champion team from Warsaw University
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Teams from Central, Eastern Europe Make Impressive Showing at ICPC
Four teams from central and eastern European countries--Poland, Russia, and Slovakia--swept the Gold
Medalist category of the 27th Annual ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest World Finals
(ICPC) held in March. The World Champion team came from
Warsaw University; following them were Moscow State University, St. Petersburg Institute of Fine
Mechanics and Optics, and Comenius University.
Jan Madey, coach of the Warsaw University team, never doubted that they would win, citing the rigorous
preparation, competitive spirit, and superior skills of his players.
MN: Was this your first time at the Finals?
JM: No--this is my ninth time in a row! At present there are only three schools in the world that
advanced to the Finals at least nine times in a row. The leader is Virginia Tech [17 straight years,
since 1987--they also won this year’s Java Challenge], followed by the University of Waterloo and Warsaw
University.
MN: Which problem was the most difficult, and why?
JM: None. The team was about to finish the last problem, missing the solution by only a few minutes.
This year the problems required not only programming skills, but also good algorithmic knowledge as
well as good mathematical background. I think this is the main reason why all the gold medals went to
Europe this year.
MN: Why does your team work well together?
JM: All three students are very good in everything needed to compete successfully in this contest.
They were winners of different national and international math and informatics competitions at school
age; two of them had already participated in the Finals in 2001, where we finished 6th; they knew each
other very well and liked each other a lot; and they modified their strategy for cooperation after they
lost last year against another team from Warsaw University. They were relaxed and ready to compete,
which is my job!
MN: What did your team do differently from the other teams?
JM: They were simply better! Those who watched the regional contests leading up to the Finals knew
that we were the favorites. The set of problems we had in our region was really difficult (moreso than
the one at the Finals), yet they solved seven out of eight problems. The next team, also from Warsaw
University, solved five, and the third team solved three. At the warm-up Internet contest just before
the Finals, as with the many other Internet contests, we won, although often only part of the team
participated.
MN: How did you prepare for the competition?
JM: For the last six months we practiced every week in five-hour sessions with problems from all
possible sources, including regional and national sets of problems. We also participated in many open
Internet contests.
We arrived in the US the week before the World Finals, and I was doing my best to arrange some fun,
relaxing activities for them. I rented a car and we went to an amusement park where the team rode all
the rollercoasters. We also spent a few days in La Jolla visiting the University of California at San
Diego and some research centers. For five days they were not thinking or talking about the contest or
about programming. They adjusted to the time difference, had very good holidays and did not worry about
anything at all.
The Warsaw University team became
the 2003 World Champions at ICPC.
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