Beyond Medals: Tracing the Impact of the Astronomy Olympiads in Uruguay

This is a poster presented at the 7th Shaw-IAU Workshop on Astronomy for Education, organised by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE, https://astro4edu.org/shaw-iau/7th-shaw-iau-workshop/). Title: Beyond Medals: Tracing the Impact of the Astronomy Olympiads in Uruguay Presenter:Silvia Martino (Departamento de Astronomía, Facultad de Ciencias, UDELAR & Planetario de Montevideo) Since 2008, Uruguay has organized the national astronomy olympiad, an annual extracurricular competition aimed at high school students across the country. Since 2009, Uruguay has also participated in the Latin American Astronomy and Astronautics Olympiad (OLAA), selecting its delegations based on performance in the national event. This contribution presents an ongoing study that combines a historical analysis of participation and performance data with a survey conducted among former participants. The aim is to evaluate the long-term educational and motivational impact of the olympiad experience, particularly in relation to sustained interest in astronomy and science in general. Collaborators:Daniel Fernández (Dirección General de Educación Secundaria, ANEP & Observatorio Astronómico Los Molinos, MEC)Luciana Pereira-Mora (Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República) About the 7th Shaw-IAU Workshop:The 7th Shaw-IAU Workshop took place 18 - 21 November 2025. The Shaw-IAU workshops focus on astronomy education for primary and secondary school students and teacher training both in universities and in service. This year's Education focus session on Teaching with authentic data and the Science focus is on Galaxies.More details can be found on: https://astro4edu.org/shaw-iau/Keep up to date with future Shaw-IAU Workshops and other opportunities at the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education by joining our mailing list https://astro4edu.org/mailing-list/ Follow the IAU OAE on Bluesky and Facebook under @astro4edu