These new awards were inspired by – and presented by – four accomplished athletes who supported this year’s IQC: US Olympic swimmer Cristina Teuscher; Hungarian water polo player and 2013 world champion Miklós Gór-Nagy; US Paralympian and gold medalist Patty Solimene; and Indian badminton star and former world No. 1 Saina Nehwal. Their careers are a reminder that high performance is built over time through preparation, adaptability and the determination to keep improving.

During this year’s Global Finals, four participants and teams were honored for demonstrating these champion mindsets:

• Breakthrough Award, presented by Saina Nehwal: Chang Yen Tsai, Team Magnum Toto, Taiwan, National Taiwan University. Chang Yen built an AI-agent team to transform quantitative research while retaining ownership of the highest-impact decisions: search-budget allocation and submissions.

• Collaboration Award, presented by Cristina Teuscher: Xavier Bonetti and Jean-Baptiste Ciric, Team La meute de deux loups, France, École Centrale. They demonstrated strong team dynamics, supported each other through difficult decisions, and balanced each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

• Reinvention Award, presented by Patty Solimene: Chomtana Chanjaraswichai, Team ChomQuant, Thailand, Chulalongkorn University. He reimagined the journey for gathering investment ideas, combining AI-driven signal development with rigorous human review and thoughtful risk controls.

• Resilience Award, presented by Miklós Gór-Nagy: Mary Odhiambo, Team Simba, Kenya, Chuka University. Despite having no prior finance or industry experience, Mary overcame self-doubt, improved each week, consistently submitted alphas, and rose to the top of the Kenya leaderboard before reaching the global finals.

Ultimately, the IQC is about more than competition. It is an opportunity for talented individuals, wherever they are based, to develop not only quantitative skills but the confidence to defend ideas, respond to challenges and pursue the next difficult problem.