THE CANADIAN PRESS
MEXICO CITY - A team of three Canadian students won the gold medal Wednesday at the National Geographic World Championship in Mexico City.
Peter Brandt, 15, of Steinbach, Man., Chris Chiavatti, 15, of Burnaby, B.C., and Graham Tompkins, 16, of Dartmouth, N.S., led the entire way throughout the final and finished on top with a 12-point lead.
The two-day contest covered all aspects of geography, including map-reading and teamwork skills.
The Canadian team successfully beat out teams from 14 other countries, including the second-place team from the United States and third-place Poland.
"They worked very well as a team and we are extremely proud of these students for what they've accomplished," said Beth Dye of the Canadian Council for Geographic Education, who accompanied the team.
"I know they will always treasure their Great Canadian Geography Challenge and World Championship experiences."
"To win is really exciting," said Brandt, 15, the team's captain, reached by phone in Mexico City. "We were thrilled, a bit surprised."
At the top of his mind after the big win were the questions he hadn't been able to answer, like which river runs through Hiroshima.
But knowing that the Orange River is the longest in South Africa helped the Canadian team answer the final question of the final round, moderated by Canadian-born Alex Trebek, host of the popular U.S. television quiz show "Jeopardy!"
The students had their trips paid for by National Geographic, including sightseeing in Mexico City and a visit to the ancient ruins at TeotihuacDan, Brandt said.
Canada hadn't won a gold in the National Geographic competition since 1997, but the Canadian organizers had a hunch this year's group would do well.
Team Canada scored the highest in a written test and mapping exercise before the final challenge, said Tanya Manoryk, manager of education programs for the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.
