Great Mathematicians on Math Competitions and "Genius" (2010)
As a former &quot;successful&quot; mathlete (never did IMO or Putnam, but consistently made the top five in state competitions), I agree that competitions won&#x27;t help you develop mathematical maturity, but it is interesting how how they are viewed in the wider world.  It&#x27;s been a number of years since my math tournament days, but people are always very impressed if I mention that I won math competitions in middle and high school.  It is odd to me, because I don&#x27;t really care about my math medals anymore and I&#x27;ve since accomplished things that I value a lot more, but there you have it.<p>Also, even though competitions won&#x27;t help you develop as a mathematician, I still think it was a good experience for me to get out of school for a day and hang out with a bunch of other math nerds.  That part of it was a lot more valuable than the competition itself.