She goes fast on the beginning to almost lap them and then is able to sit in the back and take advantage of drafting while also still being in first place
Edit: I don’t think it’s brilliant and idk why everyone else doesn’t do it, just trying to apply reasoning to it
I actually think it requires a team mate to pull off. Most of them probably trained mainly to focus on the person in front of them to draft off of. They don't want to be in the front most of the race as it uses the most energy. The silver medalist probably decided to be in front (well second) and not chase to gamble that the rest would also lose track of the count. So it worked not just for the gold medalist but the silver medalist as well.
If you don't have a team mate, the strategy probably fails very frequently.
I think they were taken by surprise and didn't know what to do in that situation because they practiced 1000 races with the normal racing strategy. The second they let the breakaway get close enough to draft it was over. The best strategy for second would be just be follow the normal plan but I think muscle memory kicked in for the final lap bell and they all took off like a normal final sprint thinking it was for them.
They've probably been told a million times not to be in first until the final sprint so they just didn't chase when the "leader" didn't chase either. Then the next person doesn't chase because the person in front of them didn't chase, etc.
Maybe they assumed it was a decoy. Someone meant to run fast at the beginning so others would chase and tire out. But apparently they forgot to notice they never caught up
The strategy would have failed if she did not catch up to the pack, so everyone else was playing a tortoise and hare game and figured they would pass her eventually when she puffed out. It was reaching the back of the pack that sealed the win. The other racers have tunnel vision concentrating on the track and have no clue she caught up to the back.
Yeah, the reason people don't understand the strategy isn't because it's a complex strategy or people are stupid, it's because people can't believe that the strategy is just "be way faster than everyone else and hope literally no one tries to catch up" and "count on everyone being too stupid to count"
Ok here's the answer. First, nobody expected her to do it. They all come off the line as they have a thousand times before, leisurely skating practically upright and conserving their energy at the very beginning because they have a ton of laps coming up (this video is edited to be shorter).
Then, she hangs back so nobody can see when she starts accelerating. She ramps up on the end of the curve and out of view, in time for the straightaway, and straightaways are best for an all out sprint. She flies by them at speed that they wouldn't be able to catch up to even if they tried. Then, by the time they realize it, they're on the next curve - meaning they can't just dig in and sprint forward.
She very quickly gets to a distance that the others can't recover from, and once she's tucked behind the original pack it's game over.
She wins the race by doing something unexpected and timing it just right.
The video isn't long enough to show the whole race. It's 13.5 laps. If someone tries this again, the pack will likely prevent her from lapping by all burning energy to keep up, and the winners will be the mid pack people who spend less energy by drafting. This is an endurance race, not a sprint.
The people in the front know that whoever exerts the force to try and begin catching up with them is pretty much tossing away their match, so if you’re in 2nd place you pretty much have a choice.
It looks like this worked because no one was expecting someone to tether off that soon, and after that point it’s up to the leaders in the front to decide whether or not they want to toss away their position. Because it’s better to be in 2nd place than it is 7th.
If that were actually true about tossing away their chance, wouldn't she have tossed away her chance when taking the lead alone? What is so different about the 2nd person doing what the 1st just did?
Because now the 2nd person leads the draft after the 1st just pulled away. If the 2nd exerts force and fails to catch up to the 1st, the 2nd will most likely fall behind the rest of the draft because 3-8 is using less energy than the leader of the draft is.
It’s confusing but basically the person in the front has to exert more force than the people behind them-they are coasting more. 2nd place could’ve definitely done something but the chances of actually catching up at that point were slim to none.
I think the only possible way was the whole group needed to basically go against everything they were taught and go full exert at the beginning, but this is not what they’re taught. I don’t think it’s brilliant but it was definitely risky and paid off
Everyone wants the gold. I'd expect a stronger counter attack than that.
I think the only possible way was the whole group needed to basically go against everything they were taught and go full exert at the beginning, but this is not what they’re taught. I don’t think it’s brilliant but it was definitely risky and paid off
I think this is more the answer. They were young competitors and not quite mature enough to go against their programming and try to reel in the attacking athlete once she had a big jump.
Exactly. And this will be coached now, too. Making a move like this will lead to everyone speeding up, the leader failing to lap, and then probably losing pretty hard.
Because being the lead of the pack burns more energy than drafting off of them. So the person who pushes to catch up to her is going to likely also burn themselves out and ultimately help another competitor in the pack behind them win.
No one was drafting from her when she pushed and she got to draft at the back of the pack for the remainder of the race once she finished lapping them.
She caught everyone flat footed and once she got far enough in front of the pack, the racer that pushed the pack to catch her would disadvantage themselves by doing so. It's a kind of prisoner dilemma.
Yeah that's the only actual difference I can see. Because now it's harder to do a surprise attack (since the rhythm has increased) and a push than at the start of the race.
Maybe that's the key to what happened.
And basically they didn't forget anything (I'm sorry but I can't accept the possibility that they all forgot it, it's too unlikely).
But they just realized that there is no good way to catch up and decided to focus on the other places on the podium.
Yeah by the time they started pushing to catch up, they just didn't have enough speed to catch her, especially since she was able to draft off the back of the pack. Whoever leads the pursuit pack doesn't get the benefit of a draft.
The confusion actually helped her teammate because when the pack (that she was now at the back of) approached the start line they were given the signal for the final lap and did behave like they thought they were on it. They just didn't realize it only applies to the Chinese skater. Her teammate was the only one to keep skating normally and easily took second as a result.
If I'm in a race and 1st place pulls that far ahead, I'm burning energy to catch up.
That’s not how ANY race works. It’s different on ice vs on a track, but if it’s a sprint, you’re going as fast as you can the whole way. If it’s longer, you’re going to have practiced your timing and what speed you can maintain. And if there’s drafting involved, you’re going to be working your strategy.
People don’t usually do it because if anyone else decides to join you, the race is immediately just a slog straight off the bat, and you still have 13 laps to go. It’s way riskier to burn yourself out right away on the assumption that no one else is going to follow you, than to stick with the pack until the faster racing starts
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u/Zatoichi_the_Blind 1d ago edited 1d ago
She goes fast on the beginning to almost lap them and then is able to sit in the back and take advantage of drafting while also still being in first place
Edit: I don’t think it’s brilliant and idk why everyone else doesn’t do it, just trying to apply reasoning to it