WASHINGTON — It’s easy to criticize the level of American education, especially in math and science — statistics prove there’s a problem. But a group of young American math whizzes proved themselves the best in the world last week.

For the first time in 21 years, the U.S. team won the International Mathematical Olympiad. This year’s competition was held in Thailand; 100 teams competed.

Coach Po-Shen Loh, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, says that the competition is rigorous. Over the two-day matchup, students work out three very complex math problems apiece. “IF you can even solve one question,” Loh tells NPR, “you’re a bit of a genius.”

Loh says that the gender gap in mathematics is real: All six of the U.S. team members are boys, and the top 12 in the country only include two girls. But he thinks that can change if people get a different way of looking at the subject.

Loh concedes that competitive mathematics is “not really a super-great spectator sport, in the sense that if you are watching them, it will look like they are thinking.” But he adds that math itself “is not just about memorizing a bunch of formulas, but in fact is as creative as the humanities and arts,” adding that he sees math as “a cross between art and law. Law is about the reasoning and proving. And the art is because what we’re trying to prove are statements that are somehow elegant. That’s where the artist decides what is art.”

Meanwhile, however, Loh is happy that his team has shown that American students can still cut it: “At least in this case with the Olympiads, we’ve been able to prove that our top Americans are certainly at the level of the top people from the other countries.”