The 2026 International Olympiad in Informatics starts today in Tashkent.

The IOI is the ultimate coding competition for high-school students. Years ago, many members of the Telegram team won medals there.

To support the best young programmers in the world, Telegram will award the 235 winners exclusive digital collectibles — Algorithm Cups — worth at least $117,000 in total.

🕌 It’s fitting that IOI is hosted in Uzbekistan — the homeland of Al-Khwarizmi, the father of algebra whose name became the word “algorithm."

Let the best algorithm win!