The North American Computational Linguistics Open competition (NACLO), formerly called the North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad before January 1, 2020, is a computational linguistics competition for high school students in the United States and Canada that has been held since 2007. For the 2021 Open competition, approximately 1300 to 1400 students competed. Since 2008 the contest has consisted of two rounds, the second being administered to the top scorers in the first round. The top-scoring students on the second round qualify for the International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL), one of the international science olympiads.
History
Since the mid-1960s, problem-solving competitions in linguistics for secondary school students have been taking place at various locations around the world. In Russia, the Moscow and St. Petersburg Linguistic Olympiads are credited with inspiring hundreds of young talented scholars to choose linguistics as an academic major and profession. Presently there are national contests in Europe, Asia, South America, Australia and Africa, as well as North America. NACLO is part of a consortium that shares resources with other English-speaking contests such as the United Kingdom Linguistics Olympiad, OzCLO (Australia) and the All-Ireland Linguistics Olympiad. There is also an International Linguistic Olympiad in which students from many countries compete, as well as dozens of local competitions held in individual towns and schools across Europe and the USA.
In 1998 the first US Linguistics Olympiad was held at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, in 1998. 18 students participated the first year, 88 participated the second year, and 67 participated the third year of this local pilot program. From 2001 to 2006, the program existed as an informal, web-based educational activity known as the Linguistics Challenge.
The two US teams in each year won several awards at the IOL in 2007 and 2008. Each year, one of the two US teams won a gold medal (or first diploma) in the team contest. In addition, several team members won individual medals.
In 2019, following a request from the US Olympic Committee that NACLO comply with the Amateur Sports Act of 1978 (aka the Ted Stevens Act), which grants exclusive rights of usage in the US of the words Olympic and Olympiad to the Olympic Committee, the contest agreed to change its name to the North American Computational Linguistics Open competition.
Format
The format of the contest changed significantly between 2007 and 2008. The 2007 contest consisted of eight problems given in a single round open to all participants. The 2008 competition consisted of two rounds. The first round was open to all contestants and consisted of a three-hour, five-problem written examination. The top scorers on the open round advanced to the invitational round, which was a five-hour, seven-problem written examination divided into two parts; the first part lasted 3 and a half hours and contained five problems, while the second part lasted one and a half hour and contained two problems. The top eight scorers from the invitational round were selected to participate in the IOL. The booklets with problems and solutions are available on the main NACLO website.
IOL qualifiers From 2007 to 2010 the USA sent two teams annually to the IOL.
+2007 - St. Petersburg, RussiaIOL 2007 ParticipantsIOL 2007 Results Team Name Award Team award Team leader 1 Adam Hesterberg gold medal Dragomir Radev,Lori Levin Jeffrey Lim best solution to problem 2 Ryan Musa Rachel Zax 2 Josh Falk gold medal Rebecca Jacobs Michael Gottlieb Anna Tchetchetkine +2008 - Slantchev Bryag, BulgariaIOL 2008 ParticipantsIOL 2008 Results Team Name Award Team award Team leader 1 Josh Falk silver trophy,cup for highest average scoreon the individual contest Dragomir Radev,Lori Levin Jeffrey Lim bronze medal Anand Natarajan silver medal Guy Tabachnick bronze medal 2 Morris Alper silver medal gold trophy Rebecca Jacobs bronze medal Jae-kyu Lee best solution to problem 4 Hanzhi Zhu gold medal,best solution to problem 1+2009 - Wrocław, PolandIOL 2009 ParticipantsIOL 2009 Results Team Name Award Team award Team leader "Red" Morris Alper honorable mention gold trophy Dragomir Radev,Lori Levin Alan Huang bronze medal,best solution to problem 1 Rebecca Jacobs silver medal Anand Natarajan honorable mention "Blue" John Berman bronze medal,best solution to problem 5 Sergei Bernstein bronze medal Daryl Hansen honorable mention Vivaek Shivakumar honorable mention+ 2010 - Stockholm, SwedenPress Release 2010IOL 2010 ParticipantsIOL 2010 Results Team Name Award Team award Team leader "Red" Ben Sklaroff gold medal,best solution to problem 4 3rd highest combined individual scores Dragomir Radev,Lori Levin Allen Yuan silver medal In-Sung Na honorable mention Brian Kong honorable mention "Blue" Martin Camacho silver medal,best solution to problem 2 highest combined individual scores Tian-Yi Damien Jiang silver medal,best solution to problem 1 Alexander Iriza bronze medal Alan Chang bronze medal
In 2011 the USA sent three teams, and Canada also sent a team.
+2011 - Pittsburgh, USAPress Release 2011IOL 2011 ParticipantsIOL 2011 Results Country Team Name Award Team award Team leader USA "Red" Aaron Klein bronze medal gold trophy,highest combined individual scores Dragomir Radev Wesley Jones silver medal Duligur Ibeling silver medal Morris Alper gold medal,best solution to problem 2 "White" Erik Andersen honorable mention Allen Yuan silver medal Chelsea Voss honorable mention Arjun Srinivasan honorable mention "Blue" Alexander Wade silver medal,best solution to problem 4 Ophir Lifshitz honorable mention Caroline Ellison honorable mention,best solution to problem 3 Rachel McEnroe Canada Keunjae Go Patrick Littell Jordan Ho Daniel Mitropolsky bronze medal William Zhang honorable mention
From 2012 to 2016, the USA sent two teams annually, and Canada sent one team annually.
+2012 - Ljubljana, SloveniaIOL 2012 ResultsPress Release 2012 Country Team Name Award Team Award Team leader USA "Red" Darryl Wu silver medal,best solution to problem 1 2nd highest combined individual scores Dragomir Radev,Lori Levin Anderson Wang gold medal,best solution to problem 4 Samuel Zbarsky honorable mention Allan Sadun silver medal "Blue" Alexander Wade gold medal,best solution to problem 3,best solution to problem 5 gold trophy,3rd highest combined individual scores Aaron Klein silver medal Aidan Kaplan Erik Andersen bronze medal Canada Simon Huang Patrick Littell Keunjae Go honorable mention David Penco Qin Long
+2013 - Manchester, UKIOL 2013 Results Country Team Name Award Team Award Team leader USA Red Aaron Klein silver medal gold trophy,highest combined individual scores Dragomir Radev,Lori Levin Max Schindler bronze medal Alexander Wade gold medal Tom McCoy bronze medal Blue Rebecca Burks honorable mention Jeffrey Ling silver medal Erik Andersen honorable mention Simone Stoyen Canada Jordan Ho Patrick Littell Janis Chang Daniel Lovsted bronze medal Stella Lau honorable mention
+2014 - Beijing, ChinaIOL 2014 Results Country Team Name Award Team Award Team leader USA "Red" Darryl Wu gold medal,2nd place individual,best solution to problem 2 gold trophy,highest combined individual scores Dragomir Radev,Lori Levin Jackie Bredenberg honorable mention Alexander Babiak silver medal Deven Lahoti silver medal "Blue" David Sokratov honorable mention James Bloxham bronze medal Kevin Li bronze medal Catherine Wu silver medal,best solution to problem 4 Canada Daniel Lovsted gold medal,3rd place individual 2nd highest combined individual scores Heather Newell Yan Huang silver medal Simon Huang bronze medal Minh-Tam Nguyen honorable mention
+2015 - Blagoevgrad, BulgariaIOL 2015 Results Country Team Name Award Team Award Team leader USA "Red" James Bloxham gold medal,3rd place individual,best solution to problem 3 silver trophy,highest combined individual scores Dragomir Radev,Lori Levin Conor Stuart-Roe silver medal James Wedgwood gold medal,1st place individual,best solution to problem 5 Kevin Yang gold medal "Blue" Julian Gau silver medal 3rd highest combined individual scores Kevin Q Li honorable mention Kevin M Li silver medal Nilai Sarda bronze medal Canada Ben Zhang honorable mention Pat Littell Ella Bei Emma McLean bronze medal James Hyett honorable mention
+2016 - Mysore, IndiaIOL 2016 ResultsNACLO 2016 Press Release Country Team Name Award Team Award Team leader USA "Red" Laurestine Irene Bradford honorable mention highest combined individual scores Dragomir Radev,Aleka Blackwell James Wedgwood gold medal,2nd place individual Erik Metz silver medal Shuheng "Nelson" Niu silver medal "Blue" Margarita Misirpashayeva silver medal Wyatt R. Reeves bronze medal Jenna LaFleur honorable mention Siye "Annie" Zhu bronze medal Canada Kevin Sun honorable mention,best solution to problem 1 Heather Newell Minh-Tam Nguyen honorable mention Lawrence Pang James Hogan honorable mention From 2017 to 2022, the USA sent two teams and Canada sent two teams, one francophone and one anglophone. +2017 - Dublin, IrelandCountryTeamNameAwardTeam AwardTeam LeaderUSA"Red"Brian Xiaogold medal,best solution to problem 3Aleka Blackwell, Lori Levin, Dragomir RadevAndrew Tockmansilver medalZiyan Leisilver medalSiye Zhubronze medal"Blue"Joseph Feffersilver medalSonia Reillybronze medalVanessa HuWesley ZhangCanada"Castors" (French)Antonin BenoitHeather Newell, Daniel LovstedCorinne SoucyGeorges AwaadSamuel Ouvrard"Moose" (English)Gabriel KammerJames HoganJane LiKevin Liang
+2018 - Prague, Czech RepublicCountryTeamNameAwardTeam AwardTeam LeaderUSA"Red"Ethan A. Chisilver medalsilver trophyAleka Blackwell, Lori Levin, Dragomir RadevSwapnil Garggold medal,best solution to problem 5Andrew Tockmangold medal,best solution to problem 1Brian Xiaobronze medal"Blue"Russell Emerinesilver medalgold trophy,highest combined individual scoresPranav Krishnagold medalBenjamin LaFondgold medalMihir Singhalsilver medalCanada"Castors" (French)Georges AwaadDaniel Lovsted, Andrés Pablo Salanova, Gustavo BeritognoloYeryomin GeorgeSamson NathanCorinne Soucy"Moose" (English)Ken Jiangbronze medalShuli Joneshonorable mentionNathan KimKevin Liangbronze medal
+2019 - Yongin, South KoreaCountryTeamNameAwardTeam AwardTeam LeaderUSA"Red"Wesley Zhanggold medal, best solution to problem 5, 2nd place individualhighest combined individual scoresAleka Blackwell, Lori Levin, Dragomir RadevAndrew Tockmangold medalZiyan Leisilver medalRussell Emerinesilver medal"Blue"Skyelar Raitisilver medalPranav Krishnasilver medalJeremy Zhousilver medalKatherine Hehonorable mentionCanada"Castors" (French)Jonathan DeschênesPatrick Littell, Andrés Pablo Salanova, Corinne SoucyGeneviève FournierFlorence LefebvreAriel P. Soucy"Moose" (English)Ken Jianggold medal, best solution to problem 1, 1st place individual 3rd highest combined individual scoreTianqi Jiangsilver medalNathan Kimsilver medalZed Lihonorable mention
+2021 - Ventspils, LatviaCountryTeamNameAwardTeam AwardTeam LeaderUSA"Red"Jonathan Huanggold medalsilver trophyAleka Blackwell, Lori Levin, Dragomir RadevEvelyn Sunhonorable mentionRiley Kongbronze medalLydia Wang"Blue"Jeremy Zhoubronze medalhonorable mentionAdithya Ram Kalyanamhonorable mentionJonathan Songbronze medalBenjamin Myer Neithardtbronze medalCanada"Castors" (French)Bogdan-Alexandru SavaPatrick Littell, Andrés Pablo Salanova, Corinne SoucyAriel SoucyYiyuan ZhangAron Szocs"Moose" (English)Thomas Frithbronze medalKunaal Chandrashekarhonorable mentionEllina ZhangLeo Tenenbaum