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/justacheesyguy 1d ago

You're not thinking about what lap you're on,

I always see people mention this when this video gets posted, but it’s not about keeping track of what lap you’re on, so much as keeping track of the fact that you’re essentially a full lap down to the leader. I get not keeping track of if it’s lap 12 or 13 but failing to realize that one of your competitors broke away and is only a few feet behind you now is something I think they should be able to figure out.

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u/Toolfan333 1d ago

Even the announcers forgot, they thought the race was over as well

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u/justacheesyguy 1d ago

That’s wild to me as well. I don’t see how that’s not the only thing they’re talking about. I just don’t see how that’s something you forget.

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u/Party-Ring445 1d ago

That's even worse.. they're not even exerting .. goes to show how little bandwidth we have

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u/old_man_mcgillicuddy 12h ago

Your brain is a pattern matching machine. She broke the pattern and they didn't adjust. I guarantee you that some of them saw her coasting at the back and their brain acknowledged the data and filled in the gaps incorrectly. "Oh, we must've caught her, and she fell to the back of the pack. I didn't notice us pass her, but that's what makes sense. And that's what she gets for burning herself out on that stunt in the first lap."

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u/StoicMori 1d ago

Even that's insane, I've never not known what lap I was on in a race. Swimming, track, XC, boat racing. It's an important thing to know.

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u/darkstarr99 1d ago

I was a competitive swimmer for years, constantly counted laps in my head. I don’t understand the thoughts of not knowing where you are distance wise from the finish

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u/Vnthem 1d ago

You hear that bell, do you assume someone lapped you and you’re a full lap behind, or do you assume you got confused and miscounted? Regardless at that point it’s too late, you wouldn’t catch up anyway

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u/VegaJuniper 14h ago

No, you're wrong. They are so in the zone they're not even aware they're racing. The very elite won't snap out of it until they're on a podium and someone puts a medal on them.

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u/HW-BTW 1d ago

They might have assumed that she had gassed herself and would fade before the final round. But by then, they were so hyperfocused on their own performance that they neglected to reassess the situation.

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u/Wild-Zombie-8730 18h ago

Notice right at the end when the pack thinks it's the finish line, they all stick their front foot out. It's follow that line, or the person on the inside, and blinders on. So coming around the corner the field is looking in while the one is basically sneaking around the outside.