Lived in Romania until I finished high school. Professors would always push us to compete in the olympiads, there was an informal system where some professors, even if they were not the one teaching your class, would take you under your wing to prepare you to hit county/national/international level, you’d be allowed to skip school for a week/month depending on the level you got to, there was even some prestige to be gained.

I was personally never motivated to go past county, but it was a fun time.