21/08/2026
The entire StairwaySoft team congratulates Yotam Budnik, his parents and his family on his outstanding achievements. Yotam is a 17-year-old high school senior from Rehovot, Israel, who has won two gold medals at international Olympiads. We are proud of the values, courage and patriotism his family has helped instill in him.
First, Yotam won gold at the 67th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in Shanghai, China, placing 23rd among 687 participants from 170 countries. In China, he proudly competed under the Israeli flag.
A few weeks later, Yotam won another gold medal at the 38th International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. However, the international organizers prohibited Israeli participants from competing under their national flag. This decision was made by the competition organizers, not by the Uzbek authorities.
When Yotam received his medal and stepped onto the podium, he took an Israeli flag from his pocket and draped it over his shoulders. The organizers then annulled his official result, revoked his certificate, removed his name from the official website and demanded that he return the medal. Yotam refused.
They were able to remove his name from the website, but they could not erase his achievements, courage or pride in Israel.
StairwaySoft is a strategic engineering and R&D partner for technology companies. We build dedicated R&D teams, contribute to full-cycle IT product development, and professionally recruit and assess technical specialists for our clients around the world.
It would be a great honor for us if outstanding young people like Yotam Budnik joined our team one day.
Yotam, we are proud of you and wish you continued success!
Remember this name: YOTAM BUDNIK. 🇮🇱
Please help share his story with the world!
Am Yisrael Chai! עם ישראל חי! 🇮🇱
