The U.S. Physics Team, represented by the five traveling members, including Indian American Agastya Goel, competed with student scholars from 85 nations at the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) held July 17–25 at PALAISEAU, Ecole Polytechnique, Paris, France.
The five Gold Medal winners of the 2025 US Physics Team are:
Agastya Goel
Allen Li
Joshua Wang
Feodor Yevtushenko
Brian Zhang
Each of these team members from the US, earned a Gold Medal, and the US Team is the only Country-team to achieve five Gold Medals, noted the American Association of Physics Teachers, AAPT, based in Maryland, in a July 25 press release.
The coaches for the 2025 U.S. Physics Team are Academic Director, Tengiz Bibilashvili; Coaches, Kellan Colburn, Natalie LeBaron, Rishab Parthasarathy, and Elena Yudovina; and Junior Coach, Evan Erickson.
The 2025 International Physics Olympiad reflected the theme “Physics Beyond Frontiers.”
“AAPT proudly congratulates these young physicists and their coaches for this outstanding representation of the United States as ambassadors of curiosity, of rigor, and of discovery on the global stage,” AAPT said in the press release.
The Closing Ceremony is available on YouTube and contains information about additional awards and prizes presented.
The U.S. Physics Team is sponsored by private donors, the American Institute for Physics and the numerous member societies of the American Institute of Physics.
Goel is from Palo Alto, California. A student of Gunn High School with a diploma in mathematics and computer science, who also describes himself as a “Singer/Actor” on Linkedin, says, “I love thinking about computer science and physics and finding ways to apply them to my everyday life. I also enjoy performing through choir and theater, as well as playing tennis and board games.”
This is not Goel’s first Gold Medal. He also won the Gold Medal as the US Physics Team Member in 2024, as well as the Gold Medal at the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) in 2023 and 2024.
His teacher Harold Polo, posted the following online when Goel won the IOI Gold Medal a year ago –
Agastya’s achievement is a testament to his talent and perseverance, and it inspires us all to reach for the stars in the pursuit of knowledge and excellence.
I applaud Agastya for this outstanding accomplishment and wish him continued success on his journey.”
He was attending the Stanford Online High School from August 2020 to May 2025, according to his bio on Linkedin.
He has been an Eagle Scout, and a member of the Palo Alto Children’s Theater since 2017 to the present. He gave a Ted talk in 2022 on “Adventures in Data”.
