A team of three Canadian students – Peter Brandt, Chris Chiavatti and Graham Tompkins – won the gold medal today at the National Geographic World Championship in Mexico City. The Canadian team led the entire way throughout the Final and finished on top with a 12-point lead. The United States finished second with a score of 25/50 and Poland finished third with a score of 24/50.
The Final, moderated by Alex Trebek, host of the popular U.S. television quiz show “Jeopardy!”, was the culmination of two days of intense competition that covered all aspects of geography, including map-reading and teamwork skills. The Canadian team successfully beat out teams from 14 other countries to reach today’s final.
The Canadian team was comprised of Peter Brandt, age 15, from Steinbach, Manitoba; Chris Chiavatti, age 15, from Burnaby, British Columbia; and Graham Tompkins, age 16, from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
“They worked very well as a team and we are extremely proud of these students for what they’ve accomplished at the National Geographic World Championship. I know they will always treasure their Great Canadian Geography Challenge and World Championship experiences,” said Beth Dye, Chair of the Canadian Council for Geographic Education (CCGE) who accompanied the team. The CCGE, which is the educational arm of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, organizes the annual Great Canadian Geography Challenge, a national student geography competition – sponsored by HSBC Bank Canada – where the winners
qualify for the World Championship. More than 108,000 students in 582 schools across the country participated in this year’s Challenge.
The National Geographic World Championship is an international student geography competition open to students under the age of 17. Organized by the National Geographic Society of Washington DC, the Championship took place July 11-15, 2009 in Mexico City, Mexico. Fifteen teams, each comprising three students who have excelled in their national geography competitions (in Canada, The Great Canadian Geography Challenge) took part. Among the countries represented: Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Chinese Taipei, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The teams answered questions on physical, cultural and economic geography in two levels of competition. The Finals of the competition was in a game-show format, moderated by Alex Trebek.
