On with olympiads.
It turns out that much higher attention is drawn to the chemistry olympiads in Russia than in US. From what I know, not many people in U.S. care about high school science olympiads. It happens that people selected for the next stage of the olympiad just don't show up to it, because they don't care enough. The United States National Chemistry Olympiad seem to exist mainly for the purpose of selection to the International Chemistry Olympiad. I can't take seriously multiple choice questions as olympiad tasks. I should note, though, that students are given 90 minutes for 60 questions, some of which demand calculations. The second problem-solving part is also quite easy. In Russia, tasks on the later stages of the olympiad, federal (several regions, preceded by regional and municipal) and national are tailored by a big number of volunteers. There is actually a considerable entry among the contributors for their problems to be chosen. The national competition includes a set 6 problems (4 hours) in each (9th, 10th, 11th grades), then 4 problems to be chosen from a set of 12 problems from 4 areas of chemistry (4 hours, shared by all grades, 9th graders choose from 2 areas, 10th from 3 and 11th from 4), and a laboratory practical (4 hours), all on separate days. The details of preparation of "the chosen ones" is also interesting, I'd like to know something about the 2-week USNCO study camp at the US Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs. Russian team is chosen similarly from 20 students who performed best in 10th and 11th grade and trained for two weeks at the chemistry department of Moscow State University. They receive lectures that end with exam and practical training in each area of chemistry and finish with a final comprehensive exam. There is also a less serious winter camp in Kazan, where more students are allowed. Finally, the performance: Russian team is consistently more successful.
What happens when a person leaves school? This question touches me as well, as I am one of those. I didn't reach the international olympiad, but I was doing alright. I think I'm doing alright now, too.
In US, it would take quite a time for the early developed interest to the science to be noticed by a person capable to shape it properly and provide research opportunity, as it is research that can, and, I believe, should sustain this interest. They go to college, typically to a good one, as evidenced by this C&EN coverage. Would a professor hire a freshman undergrad? I guess not. Thus, an olympian is forced to slow down his "chemical" development, compared to the pace taken previosly. Since this type of mind cannot stay idle, it would find something else to focus on. In this way, many olympians in search of something new switch to other areas of science. Add to this other numerous distractions offered by college. Nearly the same is true for the Moscow State, which gathers most of the olympians here as the most known and established institution. And I have seen many of them fade away.
Young bright people who showed their interest in science require attention from the academia, they deserve this attention. This brings us to the main idea of our college, and I would even give a link had there been a decent English version. The idea is simple: starting from the first year, one day of the week is exempt from classes for research work. Starting from the second year, research is mandatory. The efficiency of this approach is illustrated by the fact that we have very high percentage of people who stay in science. Higher than in MSU for sure.
These somewhat assumptive thoughts bring a question: If anyone knows about the fate of someone who is listed here, please comment. For example, I found that Thomas Snyder who won IChO gold in 1998 recently received PhD from David Liu group in Harvard and won 2006 world sudoku championship. If you have something to tell about your or somebody else's olympiad experience in other countries, please comment, too.