Israeli student's IOI gold medal revoked after displaying flag

A 17-year-old Israeli student, Yotam Budnik, had his gold medal win at the 2026 International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) in Uzbekistan disqualified after he displayed the Israeli flag during the live-broadcast awards ceremony. Budnik, from Rehovot, deliberately wore the flag despite knowing that Israeli national symbols were prohibited.

“

Yotam basically felt that this entire situation is quite absurd because the decision to forbid us from showing the flag was accepted without us being able to defend ourselves.

Since the October 7th events, IOI hosts have forbidden Israeli contestants from competing with national symbols. This year, the students agreed to participate as independent contestants, without officially representing Israel. However, team leader Ron Ryvchin told The Jerusalem Post that Yotam felt the decision to forbid national symbols was "absurd" and accepted without recourse.

Ryvchin explained that Israeli students have faced similar restrictions in previous years, including the erasure of Israel's name from ceremonies and maps. "So he felt, year after year, Israeli students are erased from their national identity or even erased completely. So he decided that as an act of protest, he wouldn’t follow this rule. He showed the flag on the stage,” Ryvchin said.

“

So he felt, year after year, Israeli students are erased from their national identity or even erased completely. So he decided that as an act of protest, he wouldn’t follow this rule. He showed the flag on the stage.

Following the incident, the international committee disqualified Budnik for not adhering to the rules. The IOI president reportedly approached Budnik to retrieve the medal, but the student refused until his teammates received theirs. He argued that the rule was discriminatory and had no place in an organization focused on informatics and international unity.

“

He told them this rule is nonsense and that they just discriminate against people based on their country. And that he thinks that in an organization that should be focused on informatics and on bringing people together from various nations, fostering friendships, there is no place for these politics.

Despite the disqualification and his score being changed to zero, effectively removing him from the official ranking, Ryvchin stated that the team considers Budnik the rightful gold medalist due to his talent and hard work. The competition itself was described as "really great," with three other Israeli students winning gold medals and one bronze.

“

They said that he made the first mistake when he showed the flag, and now he’s making the second one, that it’s better for him to return [the medal].