TASHKENT — India's Debadatta Priyadarshi was among four Indian students to win gold medals at the 58th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO), helping the country record its best-ever performance at the prestigious global competition held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, according to the Government of India.
The Olympiad, held from July 10 to July 19, brought together 363 secondary-school students from 93 countries to compete in theoretical and practical chemistry examinations. India's four-member team secured gold medals in all four entries, with Debadatta Priyadarshi of Bhubaneswar, Odisha, joined by Harshit Singhal of Punjab, Kabeer Chhillar of Delhi and Sandeep Kuchi of Hyderabad. India finished joint first in the country-wise medals tally alongside China, Vietnam and the Individual Participants Group B representing Russia, according to the Press Information Bureau.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the team in a message posted on X, describing the result as India's best performance at the International Chemistry Olympiad. He said the students' achievement reflected their "brilliance, dedication and passion for science" and would encourage more young people to pursue chemistry.
The Department of Atomic Energy said the Indian contingent was guided by Head Mentor Prof. Subhajit Bandyopadhyay, Mentor Dr. Indrani Sen of the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), and scientific observers Dr. Anubendu Adhikary of IIT Kharagpur and Dr. Jayasree Gopalakrishnan of NES Ratnam College of Arts, Science and Commerce. HBCSE coordinates India's selection and training process for international science Olympiads.
For Debadatta, the gold medal marked an improvement on his performance at the 2025 International Chemistry Olympiad in Dubai, where he won a silver medal as part of the Indian team. This year's competition represented his second appearance at the event.
The International Chemistry Olympiad is one of the world's leading academic competitions for secondary-school students, testing participants through demanding laboratory and theoretical examinations. India's clean sweep of four gold medals in 2026 surpassed its 2025 result, when the country earned two gold and two silver medals.
