With four medals, two honorable mentions, and Germany's first-ever gold medal in the team competition, the German team returned from the 23rd International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL), which took place from July 26 to August 2, 2026, in Bucharest, Romania. The students competed against participants from 46 delegations in both the individual and team competitions. Both the national final round and the preparation training were conducted at the Leibniz Centre General Linguistics (ZAS) in Berlin under the leadership of the German Linguistics Olympiad Association (Förderverein Deutsche Linguistik-Olympiade e. V.) in cooperation with other institutions.
Mikhail Iomdin from the Heinrich-Hertz-Gymnasium in Berlin won a gold medal in the individual competition. A silver medal was awarded to Yiming Qiao from the Johann-Vanotti-Gymnasium in Ehingen in Baden-Württemberg. Bronze medals were awarded Sofiia Slyvchenko from the International Lomonosov School Marzahn in Berlin as well as Stella Heinzelmann awarded by the Mariano-Josephinum in Hildesheim, Lower Saxony. Jascha Kogan from the Theresien-Gymnasium Munich in Bavaria and Tobias Wendel from the Gymnasium Schwertstraße Solingen in North Rhine-Westphalia each received a certificate of honor.
The team also ensured further success "German Umlaut" with Mikhail Iomdin, Yiming Qiao, Stella Heinzelmann, and Jascha Kogan. In the team competition, which a total of 65 teams took part in, the team won the gold medal as the first German team ever.
At the International Linguistics Olympiad, students from various countries try each year to decipher patterns in languages unknown to them. The tasks consist of identifying and describing regularities and systematic properties of grammar, writing systems, sounds, number systems, or other linguistic areas within datasets of natural and artificial languages. Prior knowledge of linguistics is not required; above all, analytical thinking, creativity, and perseverance are demanded.
The multi-stage national selection process began in January. After three rounds of competition, it was decided in April which students would represent Germany at the International Linguistics Olympiad. This year, Germany sent two teams with four students each.
This year, the preparation for the international competition was once again organized on a voluntary basis by Dr. Nathalie Topaj and PD Dr. André Meinunger at the ZAS. As team leaders, Nathalie Topaj accompanied the "Germany Umlaut" team and Merlin Fischer accompanied the "Germany Eszett" team. André Meinunger participated in the Olympiad as an observer.