US Team Prepares for SARS-Threatened Olympiad

The 24 members of the 2003 US Physics Olympiad team and several of their coaches gathered at the Albert Einstein Memorial in front of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC, in late May. Following a nine-day physics training camp at the University of Maryland, five of the students were chosen to represent the US in the international physics competition scheduled for early August in Taipei, Taiwan. Whether the event will take place remains in doubt, however, because of the recent SARS outbreak in Taiwan. Olympiad organizers already delayed the competition from its original 12 July date to 2 August because of SARS, but that may not be enough to ensure the competitors’ safety. The US team did not compete in last year’s Olympiad in Indonesia because of concerns about terrorism.