Israeli student wins gold at computer science olympiad in Uzbekistan then gets disqualified for flag

An Israeli high school computer science prodigy was erased from the official leaderboard at an international competition in Uzbekistan after displaying an Israeli flag on the victory podium. Yotam Budnik, a 12th-grade student from Rehovot, won a gold medal at the 2026 International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) before being disqualified for displaying the Israeli flag. Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported that Budnik displayed the flag amid restrictions on Israeli students representing their