Grades 1–6 · Kaliningrad
School № 47, Kaliningrad
A regular secondary school in Kaliningrad. No special academic track, no olympiad culture, no precedent for competing at the national level. Just curiosity — and a lot of it.
Grades 7–9 · Kaliningrad
The Pivot — Astronomy Finds Me
Transferred to a boarding school in Kaliningrad for grades 7–9. In 8th grade, after years of competitive figure skating, I stepped away from the sport and found my way to the IKBFU Astronomical Society. One late-night observation session later, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.
April 2, 2023 · 9th grade
Silver Medal — National Astronomy Olympiad
In just my second year studying astronomy seriously, I placed in the top tier at Russia's most prestigious astronomy competition — granting automatic university admission and proving that elite performance was possible from a regular school.
National Olympiad · 2023
May 19, 2023
National Team Candidate — Top 30 in Russia
Listed among the 30 best astronomy students in Russia — the pool from which the six-person national team is chosen. The team trains through intensive camps and qualifies for international olympiads including the IAO and OWAO.
September 1, 2023 · 10th grade
Letovo School, Moscow
Transferred to Letovo — one of Russia's most rigorous academic secondary schools. The environment accelerated everything: access to better resources, professors, and fellow students who also competed at the highest levels.
October 2023 · 11th grade
Founded SkyTournament
Built Russia's largest online platform for school-level observational astronomy olympiads. Coordinated a distributed team, developed the website and problem sets, and launched annual international competitions open to students from 10+ countries.
December 2023
IAO — Ranked 5th Worldwide
Represented Russia at the XXVIII International Astronomy Olympiad, competing among ~100 participants from across the Euro-Asian region. Ranked 5th overall and received a Silver Medal — one of only two students selected from Russia.
April 2025
Silver Medal — National Olympiad, Again
A second Silver Medal at the National Astronomy Olympiad — this time as a finalist at 11th grade, competing against the entire country's top students, and ranking in the top 0.06% of first-round participants.
May 2025
Officially Joined the National Astronomy Team
Selected to the final six-person team representing Russia internationally — chosen from 50,000+ participants across four qualifying rounds and ten intensive training camps. The culmination of three years of work.
September 2025
Gold Medal at OWAO · Enrolled at MIPT
Represented Russia at the III Open World Astronomy Olympiad — ranking top 6 among ~100 participants from 20 countries and receiving a Gold Medal. That same month, enrolled at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) as a first-year student.
"In my country, there are dozens of elite schools where winning national olympiads is the norm. And there are regular schools — where it's almost shameful to compete. I started in the second kind. I want to change that."— Margarita Tsvetkova