Liberia’s team for the third International Quizzing Olympiad, Fuengirola 2024
returned to the country on Tuesday November 12th, 2024 with less medals than were won at the Ultimate Quizzing Championship 2022, in Berlin, but high hopes for the future.
The National Quizzing Team, the ‘Learned Star’ outscored nations like Sweden and Austria in specialist categories, but was unable to overcome strong performances from United States, Belgium and England who dominated majority of the medals.
Liberia’s situation became complicated when delays in visa and flight arrangements from Ivory Coast led to the team arriving in the Olympiad venue after six of the seven parts in the Nation’s Cup Quiz had already been administered.
Liberia recovered to be present in the top 10% of the performances in the Nature
category, set several records and obtained an uncontested medal.
The Liberian team with four members aged twenty years or younger was by far the youngest team at the Olympiad, with 16-year-old Bendu Massaquoi, becoming the youngest ever International Quizzing Olympian.
This contrasts with nations like England, Belgium and United States, each of which featured several stars aged over 60 years on their squads.
Speaking to the Liberian team and onlookers at the close of the Olympiad,
International Quizzing Association (IQA) Head, Jane Allen, commended the
Liberian Ministry of Education and other partners of the Liberian National
Quizzing Team including the Liberia Telecommunications Authority for providing support to the team for its attendance at the Olympiad.
Speaking further, she stated: for the rest of the over twenty nations in attendance at the Olympiad, competing at the event simply means deciding to come and finding a flight for a few hundred dollars or in some cases less than a hundred arriving the day before the competition and returning the day after.
However, for the Liberians, spending that same figure would only get the team to a third country to obtain visa where the team will spend a longer time than the entire competition, incurring bills and making expenses.
It is only after overcoming that, that the Liberians would be able to actually depart for the competition.
She added that Liberia has always been a keen interest of the global body and they are excited to see signs that the team is also being appreciated by its home nation.
Welcoming the Liberian team at the Olympiad, IQA Global Director Chris Jones, European Director Steven De Ceuster and Asia Director Dr Anurakshat Gupta, commended Liberia’s long history of continued involvement in IQA activities and shared their ideas as to how the quizzing game in Liberia can continue to grow over time.
They added that Liberia’s pioneering endeavor as the first African nation to have participants at the International Quizzing Olympiad, validates why the nation continues to be a treasured element of the global quizzing landscape.
Lee-Ann Whitlock, the IQA North America Director, and G. Paul Bailey, the USA
Coordinator also expressed their hopes for continued internal and external
support for Liberia in future intellectual competition.
Mr. Bailey reiterated his country’s commitment to collaborating with Liberia’s quizzing efforts moving forward and reflected how IQA-USA through the Toutant Intellectual
Competition Fund enabled Liberia to attend UQC 2022 in Berlin.
In response, Liberia’s Quizmaster General, Phil Tarpeh Dixon, commended the team members for their dedication and determination noting that Liberia remains committed to leading the way for Africa in the development and growth of international quizzing events.
Meanwhile Quizmaster Dixon has extended his gratitude to all those who supported the team.
