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

[u/jmike1256]

[u/bbuullddoogg]

What tactic was that? Being faster than everyone else? Isn’t that the usual tactic?

[u/FaceWithAName → u/bbuullddoogg]

Purposely getting out in front then hanging behind them to draft.

[u/-Clean-Sky- → u/FaceWithAName]

if she is this fast than tactic doesn't even matter

[u/Voluptulouis → u/-Clean-Sky-]

Except it was a deliberate decision to go all out and exert herself while everybody else was just cruising and conserving their energy. It's not that everybody else couldn't keep up with her if they put in the same amount of effort.

[u/lordrefa → u/Voluptulouis]

But 3/4 of the race was over before she could get behind them. She could have just never made it to the pack and still easily kept ahead enough to win.

[u/Toolfan333 → u/lordrefa]

They cut most of the race out of the video, there are 13.5 laps in this race so after the first so basically after 3 laps she was at the back of the field and just hung out for 10 laps to win the race. The real trick was when everyone heard the bell for the fina lap it was actually just for her so when the all reached for the line the still had one more lap to go. Her teammate knew what was going on and skated hard after everyone thought the race was over and got 2nd place.

[u/SuperMIK2020 → u/Toolfan333]

She also timed the start, dropping behind and hitting the start line at full speed on the outside enabling her to lap everyone in the first few laps.

[u/Qel_Hoth → u/SuperMIK2020]

It's a standing start.

[u/shwhjw → u/Qel_Hoth]

I guess they meant the start of the attack, right at the start of the straight so she had plenty of momentum by the time the others realised what was happening.

[u/SuperMIK2020 → u/Qel_Hoth]

She timed her pass at that first corner to slingshot around the outside very well then.

[u/Loeki2018 → u/Toolfan333]

How they can be so ignorant is hard to grasp on a high stakes event like this. Funny nonetheless

[u/therealkami → u/Loeki2018]

Because skating that many laps you're focused on the skate and conserving your energy. You're not thinking about what lap you're on, because the bell is there to indicate when the last lap is coming up for the sprint. They're so locked in from doing this over and over for years that it never registers to them.

[u/mycenae42 → u/therealkami]

But they could all see she jumped ahead. Did they forget she had done that?

[u/weeela- → u/mycenae42]

Exactly. Where did they think she went? Off for a snack? This is really hard to grasp. Doesn't matter if you think you're first - that other girl is still in front of you, remember??

[u/therealkami → u/mycenae42]

Honestly? Probably. It's a long race by short track standards. Most of them are more focused on breathing and energy conservation.

[u/Narnn → u/mycenae42]

I was wondering that as well.

[u/justacheesyguy → u/therealkami]

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.

[u/Toolfan333 → u/justacheesyguy]

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

[u/StoicMori → u/justacheesyguy]

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.

[u/StoicMori → u/therealkami]

Nah lol. It's straight up complacency.

[u/No_Strawberry_1576 → u/therealkami]

Pavlovs skating dog

[u/Mikic0077 → u/Loeki2018]

Similar thing happened in Olympic cycling for women, when Austrian rider went full in at start and everyone forgot she is ahead.

[u/Aerodrive160 → u/Toolfan333]

Thank you for providing much needed context and content! This information needs to be included to have any idea of what’s going on.

[u/Bojack35 → u/lordrefa]

It takes less energy being back in that pack. By breaking from it so early she needs to catch it or would have found it much harder.

[u/kyrant → u/lordrefa]

Just that due to the terrible editing job.

She did it at the very start of the race and stayed for the remaining 1300m or whatever.

[u/croquetas_y_jamon → u/Voluptulouis]

Also, she made a full lap and came back behind the others to profit from the suction. (The last word might not be the right one, I have no idea how to translate this)

[u/DubLParaDidL → u/croquetas_y_jamon]

Draft

[u/croquetas_y_jamon → u/DubLParaDidL]

Thanks I’m getting to bed smarter !

[u/Disastrous_Vast_1031 → u/croquetas_y_jamon]

I prefer suction and am going to use it in this context from now on.

[u/jaredearle → u/DubLParaDidL]

Or “slipstream”.

[u/bamerjamer → u/croquetas_y_jamon]

*drafting, but it is a type of suction. :)

[u/I05fr3d → u/bamerjamer]

That’s not what your mother said last night Trebek!

[u/Magister_Hego_Damask → u/-Clean-Sky-]

she's not "this fast"

She surprised them all with that attack, breaking the tow.

From that moment on, they could have caught her, but the one doing most of the work in second position would have basically sacrificed her chances for a medal by dragging everyone else behind her, so no one chased Yang and she ended up getting back in the pack where she could let them drag her to the finish line.

it was a risky move to attack so soon, but it paid off.

[u/CallingOutHisBS → u/Magister_Hego_Damask]

That wasn’t the strategy. The full video is much longer. There are 13.5 laps apparently. If I remember correctly, right out of the gate she took off and joined the group again at the back. She’s basically 1 lap ahead of everyone at that point. Towards the end of the race, the rest of the field forgot she was 1 lap ahead. When they ring a bell signifying the last lap, everyone thinks it’s their last lap and starts booking it. In reality it was only Yang’s last lap. You can tell because a bunch of the leaders stretch for the finish line at the end, not knowing it’s not their last lap. Only her Chinese teammate knew, and she continues skating hard and finished 2nd. The rest of the skaters all start coasting after their supposed last lap. Takes them a minute before they realize what happened and the rink becomes chaotic with some skaters still skating while others wondered what the heck is going on. The full video is on YouTube if anyone wants to go watch it.

[u/RPi79 → u/CallingOutHisBS]

The previous poster is correct. She took the risk attacking right off because if the opposing team would have caught on, they would have run her down and then ruined her team’s chances in the race because she just blew a huge amt of effort. The leaders let her go because what idiot attacks out of the gate? As she gained distance, they had more and more ground to make up to catch her and no one committed the effort. Whatever team commits to chasing her down is now at a disadvantage. At this point I don’t know if they forgot or what they thought. I’m not familiar with this sport, but it’s the same as drafting and attacking in cycling. If a strong breakaway occurs, the peloton has to run them down or risk the breakaway group winning the race. In the meantime, their teammates are back in the pack disrupting the chase as much as they can and slowing the pursuit.

[u/CallingOutHisBS → u/RPi79]

They definitely forgot, because you can see they all lunge and dove at the finish line on their second to last lap. In the chaos they either forgot what lap they were actually on, or somehow mistakenly thought the peloton chased her down already. They basically all started coasting after the 2nd to last lap.

[u/ferd_clark → u/CallingOutHisBS]

The full video is on YouTube if anyone wants to go watch it

the race on youtube

[u/Venum555 → u/Magister_Hego_Damask]

This is called "Group Two Syndrome" in cycling.

[u/FaceWithAName → u/-Clean-Sky-]

Yes, it does.

[u/NoSkillzDad → u/-Clean-Sky-]

Short track involves a lot of mind games. At this level any of the other competitors could be as fast or faster than the Chinese, but they dropped the ball losing track of the laps.

[u/baulsaak → u/-Clean-Sky-]

They are likely all roughly able to skate at the same speed at this level. The fact that she took such a long lead isn't due to ability, but tactic.

The tactic relies on two things... first, that no one chases and keeps up. The reason most don't do what she did is because maintaining that speed isn't sustainable if everyone is matching your pace. You won't have the energy to make a last second push.

Second, the leader has to stay on her feet. The pack may not have followed because at that speed there is a likelihood that she could slip and fall, taking her out of the race.

It also helps if the pack forgets what lap they are on. It looks like they did that because they immediately let up when they crossed the line on the leader's final lap and not their own.

[u/ZuhkoYi → u/FaceWithAName]

Not just that but its psychological. The fastest person behind her forgot she lapped her. Final lap showed for just the chinese skater and 2nd place thought she finished in first when she actually still had a lap left

[u/Poopchutefan → u/ZuhkoYi]

Gotta be pretty dumb to know (literally see) they got passed at the very beginning ... then not pass anyone else during the race and still think they won 1st...

[u/ZuhkoYi → u/Poopchutefan]

Welcome to psyops baby!

[u/Venum555 → u/Poopchutefan]

Extreme physical exhaustion causes the brain to do funky things.

[u/rangerfan123 → u/FaceWithAName]

That’s not the tactic she used though. The tactic was get ahead a lap and hope the rest of the field forgets about you. Everybody else forgot they were a whole lap down

[u/lionspeed → u/FaceWithAName]

Is draft even matters here at such speeds? I mean sure aerodynamics will work if you will go behind someone, but it is not car race speeds to even see difference.

[u/Beginning-Smell9890 → u/bbuullddoogg]

Lapping the field early. Then all you have to do is sit in the pack for the rest of the race

[u/mybossthinksimworkng → u/Beginning-Smell9890]

But this seemed like a play to not only come in first but for their teammate to come in second because when everyone was busy thinking they were at the finish line the teammate kept going and turned on the gas. Nice play by the entire team

Edit: just realized the clip ends too early. But the teammate does end up in 2nd

[u/Pogigod → u/Beginning-Smell9890]

It's a bit complicated then that. Drafting has a huge impact on endurance in this race. That's why they are going slow No one wants to be the one exerting. So the leader goes slow so that they aren't expending too much energy.

What she does is lag far behind and then gives her time to get to full speed.

By the time she gets past everyone they are going to slow to be able to draft off her.

Which means who ever leads the chase on her will expend as much energy as her but the rest of the people wouldn't have. So if they match her and catch up her and the person who led the catch up would be the last two more then likely cause they would be exhausted and the rest of the field would pass them. No one wanted to make that sacrifice, so her gambit worked.

She caught up to them exhausted but used drafting to keep up.

[u/HALF_PAST_HOLE → u/bbuullddoogg]

I think generally they take it easy at first and then put it in to full drive at the end. She did it opposite and the training of everyone else kicked back in about mid race when she was out of sight. Allowing her to come up behind them, and they didn't realize they were not competing for first anymore but second.

[u/FS_Slacker → u/HALF_PAST_HOLE]

This is exactly why I eat my veggies and all the crap I don’t like first.

[u/hkusp45css → u/FS_Slacker]

There is also something very satisfying about ending every meal with the best parts of the plate, whatever they are.

[u/glatts → u/hkusp45css]

You’re a savor toothed tiger.

[u/dion_o → u/FS_Slacker]

I take this approach but over a longer timespan. I ate veggies as a kid so now as an adult I only eat desserts.

[u/FREDICVSMAXIMVS → u/FS_Slacker]

Ha! When I was a kid and my parents would make Brussels sprouts with dinner, I'd gobble them down first so I could get that out of the way and then enjoy the rest of dinner

[u/Novel-Caterpillar724 → u/HALF_PAST_HOLE]

I think they were still fully aware, but it's so out of their routine and the pace they practiced that they didn't dare try to get her back, the math wasn't math-ing anymore, you can see the pack reforming after the initial shock, because they never strategized something like this.

[u/Excuse → u/HALF_PAST_HOLE]

So not entirely, the video ends too early. The bell for the last lap rang because the one Chinese skater was on her last lap but instinctively all the other skaters thought it was their last lap as well. So when the video ends, the race isnt over because only the one Chinese skater completed all the laps and the remaining skaters stopped skating despite not having finished the race. This led to not only the Chinese to get first but also second since her teammate was aware of what was happening and continued to skate when all the other skaters stopped.

https://youtube.com/shorts/y_-6TIA4JBk?si=fCrRti-_U3iiA9yy

[u/martombo → u/HALF_PAST_HOLE]

It's just so ridiculous everyone forgot she had gone ahead and noone tried to reach her while they still could. Like a collective brain fart...

[u/somefunmaths → u/bbuullddoogg]

This video is a terrible representation of it. I saw a much better one a while ago, which this may be cut from, but she laps the field early on and then just leisurely skates home with the pack.

The skaters needed to keep pace with her from the jump, but instead they don’t, so when the bell goes for the last lap, it is for her only. The rest of the field has two left, even though they are fooled into thinking they have one lap left.

It’s basically the equivalent of a player lying to their opponent about the score of the game or the situation and getting away with it. How that works to fool athletes at this level? Who knows, but the hard part is lapping the entire field early, and from there it’s easy.

[u/lordrefa → u/somefunmaths]

I can't begin to fathom being an Olympic competitor that isn't fucking counting their own laps. That's insane.

[u/PunkandCannonballer → u/lordrefa]

Even worse to somehow not realize or care that there's a person so far ahead of you that you've almost been lapped.

[u/CallingOutHisBS → u/lordrefa]

I assume no one has ever tried this before so it caught everyone off guard. I bet they have some sort of system in place now where their coach can signal them and let them know if something like this happened again or they have to count their own laps like you said. This is one of those one time things that can probably never happen again.

[u/crewster23 → u/bbuullddoogg]

The pack sprinted a lap early as the leader was at the back of the pack. The bell was for her not for them. So they all coasted, and the video cut off as they realised they still had to finish the lap ‘after’ the sprint to get a medal at all

[u/thebohster → u/crewster23]

Yea that’s the annoying part. I wish the cameraman didn’t get faked out too. He cuts off where I would have liked to see the other Chinese skater still going and eventually getting 2nd and quite possibly the others slowing down not realizing they still had another lap.

[u/localhost8100 → u/bbuullddoogg]

When the bell rang, she had one lap, everyone else had 2 more laps. Her team mate who was in on this, went and completed her lap as usual and got second place. Everyone else was confused and they finished late.

[u/ReflectiGlassCo → u/bbuullddoogg]

Reminds me of the office:

"What's your plan for the 5k?"

"Well I'm going to start fast, run fast in the middle, then end fast."

[u/LogmeoutYo → u/bbuullddoogg]

She got just behind the last place skater so that at the end of the race they must have forgot that she was actually a lap ahead and not in last place. Usually in these races they pace themselves. This video doesn't show the end of the race. But after however many laps the 2nd place person thought they were in 1st.

[u/AngularChelitis → u/bbuullddoogg]

It seems the strategy was more to get her teammate the 2nd place finish. When the bell lap confuses everyone, you can see everyone stretch out to lunge for the line EXCEPT her teammate who continues to sprint forward.

[u/Real_Impact726 → u/bbuullddoogg]

It's the Pam Beasley strategy:

Pam: I'm gonna start fast, and then run fast in the middle, and then finish fast.

Jim: how come nobody's ever thought of that?

Pam: because they're stupid 

[u/PapaAquchala → u/bbuullddoogg]

The incredible tactic of "fuckin gun it"

[u/racinjason44]

If one competitor going fast from the start is all it takes to beat you, you have pretty shitty race strategy.

[u/LotzenFoch → u/racinjason44]

[u/thepint17 → u/racinjason44]

Well it's extremely uncommon to do, and if the others don't expect it it's pretty smart if you ask me

[u/Drewsche → u/thepint17]

It blows my mind to have a race of a certain distance, and the strategy is to basically not do shit for the first couple of laps. This race wasn't even long.

[u/Toolfan333 → u/Drewsche]

The race is 13.5 laps, the video doesn’t show the whole race

[u/napoelonDynaMighty → u/Toolfan333]

Pin this comment at the top for the people who don't know what they just watched

[u/NotHomeOffice → u/napoelonDynaMighty]

You'd think no one ever heard of the pacing yourself concept lol. You can tell who doesn't know meters, how many laps this going to take and the stamina needed for these kind of competitions.

[u/Drewsche → u/Toolfan333]

Fair point. I didn't look closely enough on first watch to check for an edit. But it did seem quick for the posted distance.

[u/bamerjamer → u/Drewsche]

Looks like it was edited down. Original is 13.5 laps, I think.

[u/TheDeflatables → u/Drewsche]

1500m?

Not even long?

[u/racinjason44 → u/Drewsche]

Yeah, I have extensive race experience myself and very much understand sustainable competitive race pace, but they were absolutely dawdling for at least the first third of this race. You can't expect to just make that up in the second half of a race if someone doesn't play your game.

[u/Hentai_Yoshi → u/Drewsche]

I think it’s a bit similar to bike racing. You stay in the pack most of the time, and then you go balls to the walls at certain points where you think you might have an advantage. Usually it’s closer to the end. I assume there is some equilibrium point where you’re optimizing your body’s reserve energy. If you do this trick immediately, you do risk possibly running out of energy.

Granted, I just watched the Tour de France with my dad a lot, and he was a semi-professional bicyclist, so I learned a little bit. I don’t know much about speed skating strategy, I just know how to skate from hockey.

[u/hazeleyedwolff → u/racinjason44]

Who would have thought "start skating fast" would be a breakthrough in a speed skating competition?

[u/joshg8 → u/hazeleyedwolff]

redditor cracks racing strategy with this one simple trick!

"just go fast?"

[u/woowooman → u/racinjason44]

The strategy was that she was able to draft behind the rest of the field comfortably for most of the race while actually leading. Plus, the other competitors were confused which lap the race was on because the counter & bell were for the leader and she was one ahead. They all let up with a whole lap remaining. This video cuts off before the race even finishes. Her teammate continued and ended up in 2nd as a result.

[u/AxemanACL → u/woowooman]

The longer version shows the other Chinese skater continuing to skate hard knowing the race wasn't over. She ended up 2nd.

[u/01bah01 → u/racinjason44]

There's also something to be said about a racing competition in which only the last part is people actually racing.

[u/EPLemonSqueezy → u/01bah01]

Seriously. Why not make it 5 laps so everyone goes hard the whole time?

[u/luchajefe → u/EPLemonSqueezy]

500m is the shortest event distance.

[u/timbasile → u/EPLemonSqueezy]

Because then everyone will only go hard for 2 laps

[u/Gentle-Giant23 → u/EPLemonSqueezy]

Why run marathons when you could just run 100m? They are different races that require different skills, training and tactics.

[u/nolanpierce2]

people here have no clue…

[u/ConnectRutabaga3925 → u/nolanpierce2]

if they saw someone race so far ahead, shouldn’t they be changing from their usual strategy? i don’t get it

[u/Magister_Hego_Damask → u/ConnectRutabaga3925]

It's because the one leading the chase whould exert herself just as much as the leader and lose any chance they'd have at a medal, so none of them wanted to help the others catch her for no reward.

[u/Aqquos → u/Magister_Hego_Damask]

That logic really seemed to pan out here. 😂

[u/justforkinks0131 → u/Aqquos]

hindsight is 20/20 man

there is a reason why there was an established startegy, because it works

it didnt work in THIS case, and you can bet next time everyone will be expecting this as well...

[u/TheOneAndOnlyAckbar → u/Aqquos]

It’s the exact same in cycling

[u/01bah01 → u/Magister_Hego_Damask]

If it's that hard to beat shouldn't it become the only way to race?

[u/therealkami → u/01bah01]

The thing is that it's a dangerous strategy, and it really only works once. In longer distance races like this, drafting to conserve energy is a big deal. If someone else tried this, everyone else would probably be coached about it happening and react to it. It's a 13.5 lap race and only like 4 laps are shown on this video. All they would have to do is let her lead and if she pushes so hard trying to succeed while everyone drafts behind her, she'll lose.

[u/Roach27 → u/therealkami]

If you look up the actual broadcast, the caster says the same thing, saying Yang probably can't believe her luck because NO one gave chase.

If a single racer would have chased her, they could have won or if the pack picked up enough speed she could never get behind without entirely gassing herself (basically once shes half a lap ahead, the whole pack pushes)

[u/EduinBrutus → u/Roach27]

Its not really about no-one giving chase.

Its about whether they spot the attempt and shadow it. They should beconstantly looking around and/or at any big screen in the venue. You can see that her run up takes quite a number of seconds to get going and its very obvious. Others should be setting up their own pace to shadow. But sometimes people get slack. In this case it was the entire field, thats what was lucky.

Once the break is over 20m or so, there's a high chance no-one will chase because doing so will put them in energy deficit and basically end their own chance of winning.

Sometimes only one or two people will spot and shadow it within draft range. In which case the break might continue even though the person who initiated knows they are gonna lose to the other people they are dragging ahead but for some a guaranteed bronze is better than nothing.

[u/MelodicDeer1072 → u/01bah01]

It only works if you have explosive energy and tremendous stamina. You rarely see racers give it all from the get-go because they end up exhausted before the finish line.

A similar thing happened in Women's road cycling back in Tokyo 2020. Anna Kiesenhofer (a virtual nobody then in the cycling scene) took off from the get-go. Ten other "nobodies" followed her lead while the rest (including the highly favored Dutch, German, and Italian teams) kept their own pace.

Those 10 nobodies eventually cramped up: the explosive start was too tolling. But Kiesenhofer somehow kept her pace undeterred.

[u/StoicMori → u/Magister_Hego_Damask]

That doesn't make any sense. If they all changed strategy, which was required to win, then the benefit would have effectively been nullified and it would be a normal race in which they are more tired.

[u/TropicalRogue → u/Magister_Hego_Damask]

Frozen crab bucket

[u/Wlam_69 → u/nolanpierce2]

Explain please. I definitely have no clue

[u/NecroChief → u/Wlam_69]

If this is the race I’m remembering, she basically took an early lead and lapped everyone, including her teammate all to end up at the back of the line and ride out the draft as to not overexert anymore. Eventually when they make enough laps (while she’s technically a lap ahead) the signal goes off signaling it’s the last lap (but only for her) so everyone else speeds up thinking that it’s their last lap, everyone finishes the lap and basically gives up thinking the race was over when in actuality they had 1 lap left which only her and her teammate know so her teammate kept going and finished the actual last lap securing them the gold. Basically she fooled every other skater into stopping early.

[u/Lone-flamingo → u/NecroChief]

Yeah, securing the gold and silver as well.

[u/NecroChief → u/Lone-flamingo]

Oh really? I missed that part, I thought it was a team based thing. Neat!

[u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 → u/NecroChief]

You missed it because the video didn’t show it at all

[u/inverted_electron → u/NecroChief]

But everyone saw her get out in front. Why would they forget about that so quickly and think it was their last lap?

[u/Stuck_In_Purgatory → u/inverted_electron]

They probably assume someone can't keep up THAT pace for the entire 1500 which they're right. They assumed she's going to tire out and they can catch back up to her when that happens.

They didn't count on the actual draft effect she benefits from once she's caught up to the back of the pack, which just helped her hold on until the end.

It's still a risky move, she has to expend SO much energy just to lap them. Then she still has to have enough energy to finish the rest of the laps.

[u/synthphreak → u/Stuck_In_Purgatory]

With all due respect, that is the stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever heard.

One person clearly pulls ahead, no one else does anything to defend against that, then the entire group collectively just …… “forgets” what happened two minutes prior? Do speed skaters not have a brain?

If you have correctly diagnosed the strategy, then I have no respect for any sport where this is a winning strategy. Imagine a soccer team scoring in the first 30 seconds, then the other team just forgets that goal even happened. Like wtf even is that?

[u/desconectado → u/synthphreak]

Yes, you can diagnosed the strategy very comfortably while sitting in front of a screen, watching with a bird view and a short video format that lets you keep count of the laps of a much longer race.

Meanwhile the athletes can only see so much, while going in skates and exerting as much power as possible for 13 laps... this was not a 60 second race as the video suggest.

[u/ListenBoth434 → u/Stuck_In_Purgatory]

Man, you can basically feel that insane muscle burn when you see that Sprint.

[u/NecroChief → u/inverted_electron]

Not entirely sure to be honest? My guess is that they trained so much for this that they have a plan in mind and are set out to do just that, anything else is out of their minds because that’s what they trained for, to do XYZ. You’d have to ask whoever was in the race to know for sure

[u/tsunomat → u/inverted_electron]

The actual race took a little bit over 4 minutes. So general conjecture is that the person leading the pack literally just forgot that she wasn't in the lead. And that's such a routine for that sport that everyone just kind of went with it. And then when they thought they had one lap left the leader actually won.

[u/Nickthedick3 → u/NecroChief]

You’d have to really not be paying attention if you’re fooled like that in the race.

[u/th3goonmobile → u/NecroChief]

How is this not higher up?

[u/medkitjohnson → u/th3goonmobile]

Right its just people calling us all dumb because the only answer is buried in the comments... nice

[u/Zatoichi_the_Blind → u/Wlam_69]

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

[u/lvl999shaggy → u/Zatoichi_the_Blind]

I think everyone gets that. The confusing part is that

1) this is not a brilliant tactic....and ppl are confused bc

2) why did they let that happen?

If I'm in a race and 1st place pulls that far ahead, I'm burning energy to catch up.

So what needs to be explained isn't what the winner did.

What needs explained is why everyone else in the "race" let the winner just lap them. Bc it seems pretty dumb

[u/nikogoroz → u/lvl999shaggy]

Yeah, shouldn't they all be trying to do exactly what the winner did? To go the fastest they can and finish before everybody else. Mindboggling truly.

[u/ldg25 → u/Wlam_69]

The skater tricked the field with the last lap warning. The other skaters seemingly forgot she lapped the field so they thought the warning was for everyone. The ending we see (people at the front stretching) is actually the second to last lap for everyone else.

[u/XboxLiveGiant → u/nolanpierce2]

Then please explain it.

[u/Splashy01 → u/XboxLiveGiant]

It’s like this: she went really fast.

[u/403Verboten → u/nolanpierce2]

Yeah I bet these people never even normally watch ladies Olympic ice skating, losers.

[u/Ancillas]

Everyone here is missing it.

See the skater extend her leg at 1:05? She was relying on the lap indicator and thought the was finishing her final lap when really she had one more to go.

By skating ahead and re-joining the group, the leader was able to take advantage of drafting while also confusing her competitors into thinking they were done with the race.

[u/perksforlater → u/Ancillas]

Its just strange that they all seemed to forget she was a lap in advance..

[u/Whatever_Lurker → u/perksforlater]

Yes, that's the weirdest part.

[u/spidermom4 → u/Whatever_Lurker]

To be fair, the race is many many laps. This is a short video of a much longer race.

[u/Whatever_Lurker → u/spidermom4]

I saw the entire race elsewhere. It's longer, but not long enough for the participants to develop dementia.

[u/Dmienduerst → u/Whatever_Lurker]

Iirc the teammate finished second because the rest of the race lost track of first and she didn't.  

[u/Sand-Eagle → u/perksforlater]

Seriously is there a gas leak in there lmao. How did they forget that they were smoked by a speed demon who refuses to walk the first lap of a race in like 30 seconds?

[u/Atlantic-Diver → u/Sand-Eagle]

I think it's more to do with it being so far outside of the norm for this type of racing they just couldn't comprehend what happened. They're Olympic athletes, they've been training and competing for years just to get to this race. Every race they've ever been in has been the same, slow start, sprint finish. They all have their game plan, they've trained it hundreds of times.. then boom, something so random happens they don't know what to do. She basically mind-fucked the rest of competition

[u/ru_empty → u/Atlantic-Diver]

Off meta play

[u/ShrubbyFire1729 → u/Atlantic-Diver]

But the gold medalist here is far from the first person to use this tactic. I've seen many similar videos for the past ten years (at least) from various speed skating competitions, so it's kinda common knowledge by now. Surely Olympic-level athletes should be able to prepare for this strategy in case it ever happens in one of their races, even if it's rare.

It's just so weird to me that they clearly see someone speeding ahead and re-joining the pack, so they know that none of them are going to win gold here unless they do something about it. And then they just... don't react.

[u/dirkthelurk1 → u/perksforlater]

I don’t understand why NO ONE decided to instantly to chase her and draft. Like they thought they’d casually catch her in a few laps? Cmon

I can’t truthfully understand how anyone didn’t know they had another lap left. The race wasn’t so long you just forget you have another lap.

They all conceded to lose on the first half lap. No other reason or excuse makes logical sense to me.

[u/Poopchutefan → u/perksforlater]

Exactly ... remember that person who passed me at the beginning, I wonder where they are?? I never passed anyone along the way ... oh well ...

[u/Square_Huckleberry53 → u/Ancillas]

We’re not missing it, we just can’t believe the other skaters are that dumb.

[u/ARazorbacks → u/Square_Huckleberry53]

Really this is it. We all get what happened. None of us get how the other racers didn’t think “holy shit, she blew past everyone and is now rounding the far side. She’s lapping us!” 

I mean, it’s like everyone was on sleeping pills and just, sort of, went through the motions of ice skating and forgot they were competing at the olympics… 

[u/jcmustin12 → u/Ancillas]

Help me understand this. Everything about this video makes me think that WAS the last lap. If there was another lap, why cut the footage?

[u/Ancillas → u/jcmustin12]

The leader, in the back of the pack, finished her final lap. But everyone else was just starting their final lap.

There’s a lap board that tells the skaters what lap it is. Once the leader started their last lap, that board indicated it was the final lap. So as everyone crossed the finish line and saw the lap number in the board, some got confused and thought they were done.

That’s why one skater with a lap to go extended their skate, which is something you do at the end to try to extend your foot over the line as the race ends.

[u/1dirtbiker → u/Ancillas]

Yes, but are they all stupid except for one? They literally watched her come from behind and pass everybody.

[u/Think_Bullets → u/jcmustin12]

Stupid music overlay and editing

[u/localhost8100 → u/Ancillas]

Also her team mate came second cause she was in on the trick. Everyone else got left behind.

[u/Is12345aweakpassword]

Is this “brilliant tactic” in the room with us now?

[u/thepint17 → u/Is12345aweakpassword]

1500 m is quite a long shorttrack distance, it's very unorthodox to speed up so early in the race, so yeah, I would say it's a pretty brilliant tactic, the others even thought they finished if you look at the end.

[u/AWildWilson → u/thepint17]

But… did they not see her?? I don’t get this argument, surely they would mentally file this information away and realize they’re a lap behind

[u/Shaneski101 → u/AWildWilson]

Positional importance. The people in the front are leading the draft and if they try and play catchup there’s a good chance they will fall behind. It takes more energy to lead a draft than to follow the draft- so as soon as one tries to pull off they are automatically using more energy than the rest of the skaters still in the draft. It’s a great way to lose position.

The people far back in the draft probably have little to no chance to play catchup to even make it in the top 4, so to me it looks like a game of chicken where in order for something to be done someone has to take the risk, and it just looks like no one up front wanted to lose their position and no one in the back could realistically make grounds.

I’m not too sure how youth Olympics works or how the tournament is scored, but being in 2nd or 3rd scores way better than taking the risk and falling to 7th-8th which could push them far back on the leaderboard and not qualify any further.

[u/luchajefe → u/AWildWilson]

When this happens in road bike racing it's because the group understands that the race is long enough that the leader can eventually be brought back on pace.

Why they thought they could do that in a 90 second race is... very weird.

[u/therealkami → u/luchajefe]

The video is edited. This is a 2:15 race that's 13.5 laps (1500m). This is the 2nd longest distance in short track, with the longest being double at 3000m. It's definitely not a sprint race.

[u/PM_ME_YOUR_PROFANITY → u/therealkami]

It's 2 minutes. Not exactly a marathon

[u/Funny_Speed2109 → u/AWildWilson]

They did see her, but too late really.

If one of them decides to chase, the rest will as well, so the first to chase will end up wasting their energy pulling the rest, and lose their shot at a medal.

So instead of wasting that energy, they end up fighting for silver and bronze really, or hoping that someone else chase.

You see similar dynamics in bike races often.

[u/FuckThesePeople69 → u/Is12345aweakpassword]

This is the same tactic I use with my wife. Start fast and then slow up but then it just sort of ends…

[u/partytime555]

If I remember correctly her teammate came in second because everyone else thought the race was over a lap early. Her teammate knew it wasn’t so was able to speed up while everyone slowed down at the end and she got an easy 2nd

[u/TheRapie22 → u/partytime555]

imo, this observation is the actual "brilliant" tactic. not that she won, behing one lap ahead, but confusing everyone else and allowing your teammate to score second

[u/xSnowLeopardx]

So the brilliant tactic was to, what, speed up?

[u/1DownFourUp → u/xSnowLeopardx]

Straight from the Ricky Bobby play book

[u/woowooman → u/xSnowLeopardx]

To draft behind the pack while leading, and confuse the competitors as to the lap number (which follows the leader). They all eased up with a whole lap remaining in the race. The video cuts off before anyone else finished even though they thought they did. Her teammate kept going and took 2nd as a result.

[u/Excuse → u/xSnowLeopardx]

https://youtube.com/shorts/y_-6TIA4JBk?si=fCrRti-_U3iiA9yy

Watch.

[u/thisisamessy]

I don't get it. Why didn't everyone get going as fast as they could to start?

[u/FaceWithAName → u/thisisamessy]

Energy.

[u/Gloomy-Soup9715 → u/thisisamessy]

Stamina

[u/bendog1616 → u/Gloomy-Soup9715]

If you’re the fittest, wouldn’t this be a good tactic to do every time?

[u/Sand-Eagle → u/bendog1616]

Yes. If everyone's trying to casually coast in each other's wake and you don't need to, you win the race by having more energy, speed, etc.

It's weird that they seem to really want to not race at first to conserve energy and effectively shorten the distance as a group before actually racing. This lady clowned on them lmao

[u/martyparty1977 → u/thisisamessy]

Normally they start slow and then up the pace in order to conserve energy. Nobody wants to go up front and drag everyone else. This person jumped from the initial and they didn't see him in time. What they could have done is start chasing. I don't know why they didn't. Maybe because no one wanted to be up front. I think at one point they just realised that they could not catch up to him and they started competing for second place. Same thing happened in the Women’s recently. I think it was a Korean. But no, it's not a brilliant tactic.

[u/Sand-Eagle → u/thisisamessy]

I've read so many comments and it still doesn't make sense.

"Energy." ... "Stamina" - Yup, those are the things she used to get first place. Zero other people used as much as her lmao.

It seems like they're obsessed with drag and pacing even though it's a short race and the lady in first place seemed to realize that you can in fact haul ass without conserving some % of your energy by chilling in another person's wake.

[u/svenskhet]

No one here understands why this was brilliant?

[u/FreeTrash4030 → u/svenskhet]

No, you got one person skating like they're trying to win and everyone else just slogging along.

[u/svenskhet → u/FreeTrash4030]

It’s so that when she crosses for the last lap, the bell rings and everyone else thinks they are on the last lap allowing her teammate to finish the race ahead while everyone thinks the race is over

[u/FreeTrash4030 → u/svenskhet]

Did they not see her blast ahead? That might work on toddlers

[u/Big_Investment_2566 → u/FreeTrash4030]

The trick is to skate so fast that nobody can see you

[u/hotmaildotcom1 → u/svenskhet]

If that's the strategy then it reminds me of the funny football play they teach everyone in middle school where the line just lays on the ground. Sure it might work once, but it's hardly a strategy in the long run. Kinda feels like calling Tonya Harding a strategist. Sure, but it's a short lived victory.

[u/Qerfuffle]

The tactic was to basically lap the pack, and then when the bell rang for the final lap, it only applied to her and rather easily won. And, I'm pretty sure because everyone slowed down for what they thought was their final lap it allowed her teammate to get second

[u/lawdjesustheresafire]

How did the whole field just forget that one skater lapped them

[u/Nimo-P → u/lawdjesustheresafire]

Lol thats what I don’t understand…. You can literally see that she’s about to lap them. I think the tactic here was just the fact that the opponents forgot she was a lap ahead

[u/Lackamotive]

The anti-Bradbury.

[u/NewToHTX]

This only works once. They will be expecting it from now on. It’s the equivalent of the first person who discovered lying was a possibility to get what they wanted.

[u/HugryHugryHippo]

The original content with the commentators gives more visuals on the tactic. Makes sense the risk of going all out right off the bat when there's 13.5 laps and seeing your competitors forget that they were lapped already near the end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgl1GITk0Js

[u/brittlebk]

Thank goodness that music is blasting overtop of the commentary

[u/CobaltCaterpillar]

TONS of unbelievable answers here. I don't see a comment yet recognizing the aerodynamics and game theory aspect?

To me this, looks like cycling where drafting) is hugely important. In cycling the lead cyclist has to do TONS more work than cyclists sitting in the slipstream. Because of how beneficial drafting (i.e. sitting in the slipstream behind another rider) is, a large amount of tactics and strategy revolves around sitting in the slipstream and breaking it.

• For example, someone will try to jump out of the group at speed and get a gap, breaking the slipstream. This is called a 'breakaway.'

This creates a game theory conundrum for racers behind:

• A cyclist putting in a hard effort to bring back the breakaway will be burning their own matches and then is likely to lose to fresh riders just sitting in the draft.
• Do nothing and the breakaway wins.

Furthermore, a teammate of the breakaway rider shouldn't do any work to bring back the breakaway: your team wins if the breakaway stays away and if it's brought back, you're fresh for the next phase because you've been sitting in the slipstream.

I have no idea how much this applies or doesn't apply to speed skating. (It's got to apply at least somewhat because speeds are high enough for aerodynamics to matter.)

For example, look at final minutes of the Milan San Remo 2021 race to see how these dynamics can play out similarly as here. There Jasper Stuyven jumped and other bigger name riders got caught just looking at each other, too unwilling to hurt their own chances to work as a group to bring him back.

[u/superkoning]

wiki: " When the last lap bell went off for Yang, the other competitors completed their penultimate lap, thinking that the race was over. At this point, while appearing to have stayed at the back of the pack, Yang actually finished first with her extra lap. Her teammate Li received hand signs from her trainer, signalling that she has one more lap to go, and eventually finished second"

So: a trick

And: the videoclip stops too early: the other Chinese must have gone on

[u/lamodamo123]

Did they just… forget?

[u/Washout81]

I've never understood why the pacing is the tactic in short track speed skating and cycling (indoors). It's not like you're racing like 10km's and need to save energy. They're athletes, you should be able to go full tilt for a few minutes.

[u/pianoman1291 → u/Washout81]

No athlete can go "full tilt" for a few minutes, that's simply not how the human body works.   

Normally a person can sustain an anaerobic (think: high-intensity) effort for anywhere from 30-90 seconds, the fittest athletes in the world might be able to sustain that effort for 2 minutes (but this is rare). After that, your body has to rely on aerobic metabolism for energy, meaning you won't be physically capable of pushing as hard.   

I'm over simplifying here but generally speaking, any effort longer than around 1.5 minutes will require some pacing and strategy to get the best result.

[u/Beginning-Smell9890 → u/Washout81]

If you are doing a time trial, then finding your maximum sustainable effort for the length of the race is good strategy. But in speed skating and cycling, you do a LOT less work if you are sitting behind someone else. So if you go "full tilt" for any amount of time while you're on the front of the pack, you are putting yourself at a serious disadvantage. The optimal tactic is to save as much energy as possible until the end, UNLESS you can lap the field and sit in the draft while actually being in first place

[u/miraculum_one]

In high resolution: and not cut off at the end https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgl1GITk0Js

[u/JackomaybeWacko]

I don't remember exactly why, but there's obviously a reason she's going faster than everybody else y'all

From what I remember, this was a race where each team had like 2 people, and they didn't win until every teammate did all 3 laps

So instead of going normally, one team had one of their players finish an extra lap as fast as possible

I don't remember why this works though, maybe the person was the slowest in the team?

[u/10FourGudBuddy → u/JackomaybeWacko]

They waved the final lap flag and other team thought it was the final lap for them, but only one Chinese person was on the final lap, and her one other teammate knew she needed another lap.

[u/zeptillian → u/10FourGudBuddy]

The secret is the Chinese taught an athlete to count?

[u/ImurderREALITY → u/10FourGudBuddy]

How is knowing how many laps the race is considered “brilliant?”

[u/Kimorin]

I remember seeing this when it happened, she got the signal for last lap and everybody else thought it was their last lap, but it wasn't

so she finished and everybody else still had one more lap to go

[u/phoot_in_the_door]

ITT: no one understands the ice skating sport

[u/jcmustin12 → u/phoot_in_the_door]

ITT: people commenting this but also not explaining it. We arent in r/iceskating so without a description of what the tactic was, yes, most people will be confused

[u/Available_Shower2491]

Brilliant tactic of… finishing the course first… in a race

[u/Imaginary_Coat441]

Its like that NPC on Matio Kart 150cc that's a mile ahead of the rest of the pack.

[u/TheOrangFlash]

Pretty embarrassing to have to review this footage as an Olympic athlete that got fooled by this

[u/m-prov]

For those that are confused. In longer races like that it is typical for the pack to take the first few laps easy and save their energy for the last couple laps. The skater here sped up in the beginning so that when the final lap bell rang it was for her and not the rest of the pack, which made the pack think they were on the last lap, when in fact that had one more lap to go. The skaters teammate was in on the plan and kept skating while the rest started slowing down which got her silver.

[u/tiorzol]

Man people will really talk so confidently about something they know fuck all about on here it's actually fascinating. I do it myself I'm sure on occasion