Chinese teenage skaters' "rabbit tactic" goes viral

BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Even though the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games concluded several days ago, the "Rabbit Tactic" used by China's speed skating team remains a hot topic on social media.

In the women's 1,500m short-track final, Chinese athletes Yang Jingru and Li Jinzi executed the "rabbit tactic" perfectly, sweeping the top two places in the event. Yang also awarded the first gold medal for China at this Winter Youth Olympics.

At the beginning of the race, Yang accelerated suddenly and swiftly glided past all her competitors before lapping the entire field. Over the next 10 laps, Yang maintained her position at the back.

When the final lap bell rang for Yang, all the competitors, except Yang's teammate Li, thought they only had one lap left, and they then crossed the finish line and started celebrating. Yang, who had quietly bided her time at the rear, emerged triumphant with a time of 2 minutes and 33.148 seconds, while Li secured a well-deserved silver medal.

The International Olympic Committee's (IOC) official TikTok account pinned the game footage and praised it as an "incredible strategy", attracting over 10 million views.

In addition, the rebroadcast of the race has gained 80,000 views on the Olympics' official YouTube channel, with several people commenting that their tactic "even deceived the cameraman and commentators."

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Yang and Li said that their most memorable moment at Gangwon 2024 was the "rabbit tactic".

"Because I felt so happy when I lapped them in the 1,500 meters," said Yang.

The teenagers also won gold for China in the mixed relay event.

According to Yang, the success of the tactic was down to two all-out sprints.

"Normally in the 1,500m race, the athletes should speed up in the last few laps, but this time, I have to sprint twice."

Li said she believed she got the silver medal because she executed the tactics well.

"After Yang won the race, my coach told me with hand signals that I still had one lap to go," said Li.

"When seeing the reaction of the other skaters, I also wondered if I had finished it, but my coach told me there was still one lap, so I continued to skate."

On TikTok, a digital creator named Schmittly explained and reviewed the entire strategy through a video.

"This is the boldest thing I have ever seen in sports in a long time," said Schmittly, adding that in a long-distance race, sprinting at the very beginning means a big risk, but Yang did it.

"They should high five, gold and silver," commented Schmittly when seeing Yang and Li celebrating. "So smart and so entertaining!"