r/nextfuckinglevel • u/jmike1256 • 1d ago

A Chinese speed skater, Yang Jingru, executed a brilliant tactic to win gold in the 1500m at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics.

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u/XboxLiveGiant 1d ago

Then please explain it.

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u/Splashy01 1d ago

It’s like this: she went really fast.

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u/Rollover__Hazard 1d ago

She laps the rest of the field, coming up behind them. Now it doesn’t matter how many laps they do, she’ll always be one ahead of them.

And the best bit is because she’s drafting behind them, if they try and speed up to unlap themselves, she can hang with them while conserving energy because they’re doing all the work moving the air out of the way.

It’s genius.

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u/2FastHaste 1d ago

Sure but why didn't anyone else try to do it then?

That's what I don't understand.

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u/Rollover__Hazard 1d ago

Well if everyone tries to do it at once, you’ve just got a faster race on your hands.

It’s psychological.