3. OWL Speed Math Championship

The fastest mental calculators in East Westphalia are world class!

On Saturday, 14 June 2025, around 30 winners from the 272 active participants in the OWL Speed Calculation Championship travelled with their families from all over East Westphalia-Lippe to Bielefeld Town Hall for the award ceremony.  In the Great Council Chamber, they not only celebrated their successes in OWL, Germany and worldwide, but also received attractive prizes and celebrated the achievements of the young mathematical talents. Entertaining mathematical games lightened up the event, which ended with a buffet and good conversation.

The Andreas Mohn Foundation and the Ravensberger Erfinderwerkstatt organised the championship on World Mathematics Day for the third time. The aim of the event is to convey the essential role of mathematics as a science of the 21st century to young people through the joy of arithmetic. Sustainable global development, improving the quality of life in industrialised and developing countries, tackling climate change and developing artificial intelligence are inconceivable without mathematics.

Starting on 12 March, students in their respective grade levels were able to practise on an online platform in preparation for the competition, which was held in English on 26 March. For 24 hours, they could compete in up to 20 rounds of 1 minute each against students from 81 countries around the world. The goal was to solve as many problems as possible correctly and as quickly as possible. A total of 51,928,073 problems were solved worldwide. According to feedback from teachers, the students had a lot of fun and even asked to do practice sessions during class.

The speed calculators from OWL are world class. Not only did they frequently take the top three places in Germany, making them German champions in speed calculation, but they also ranked among the top 1,000 worldwide, with 228,958 participants. Two of them even made it into the top 100 (Leonard and Daniel).  With 228,958 participants worldwide, they were always among the top 1,000. Two placements that even made it into the top 100 are particularly noteworthy (Leonard Gisbrecht, Year 2 at Milse Primary School, 78th place, and Lukas Biele, Year 7 at Kreisgymnasium Halle, 86th place).

Wellensiek Primary School in Bielefeld had the most participants with 75 calculators and received a special prize for this.

The pupils impressively demonstrated that mental arithmetic is still an important skill, even in the age of calculators and smartphones. The organisers are already planning the next OWL Speed Calculation Championship for next year.

A big thank you goes to the parents who support their children at such events, to the dedicated teachers who enable their pupils to take part in such events, and of course to the young arithmetic artists themselves, who cultivate their talents.