Vieta Jumping The Most Beautiful Proof in Olympiad History (IMO 1988, Problem 6)
In 1988, at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in Canberra, Australia, Problem 6 brought the world's best young mathematicians to their knees. Proposed by Stephan Beck (West Germany), this problem was considered so difficult that even the jury members struggled to solve it. Only 11 out of 268 participants achieved a perfect score among them, Nicușor Dan (Romania), now President of Romania.
The method behind the solution? Vieta Jumping, a technique as surprising as it is elegant.