As this year's IOI approaches, I've been reflecting on my standing and goals, and I'm writing this blog to share my thoughts and gather experiences from other IOI participants.
Metrics to Quantify Skill
First, I want to discuss how I perceive skill in OI. Each competitor's skill is defined by two metrics: untimed skill and timed skill. I think of these similarly to how CF problems are rated: untimed skill is the difficulty level at which someone could solve 50% of problems given a very long time (say 5 to 10 hours, essentially unlimited). Timed skill is defined under the time constraint of 100 minutes per problem, which is the average time allocated per problem at IOI. I believe that practice targeting both aspects is crucial for improving IOI performance.
Dynamics of Gold Medalists
Inspired by E869120's blog on winning a gold medal at IOI, I've contemplated what it takes to achieve each kind of medal. Gold medalists seem to fall into two main categories: those who are fairly confident (>70% chance) about winning a gold medal going into IOI, and those who are confident about winning a silver but have some chance (15~70%) at a gold medal. I estimate that I belong to the latter category this year, and thus my aim for the next two months is to maximize my chances (even if it ends up just being 20% or 30%) of winning a gold medal at IOI 2026.
The Dilemma of Practice
Setting this goal has put me in a dilemma: part of me thinks that focusing on my untimed skill is more important to widen the scope of subtasks I could potentially solve. On the other hand, I can pass the gold cutoff on most IOI sets given unlimited time, which makes me wonder if I should instead improve my speed. If you are a former IOI gold medalist, I would love to hear your practice experiences, especially regarding the following questions:
- What was your practice volume like the year leading up to IOI?
- What is your opinion on practice quantity vs quality?
- What was your strategy for training for a gold medal?
- What is your contest strategy during an IOI-style contest?
- How much did practicing OI affect your personal life?
- What sacrifices did you make, and do you think they were worth it?
- Where are you now and how are you doing?
I would love to hear opinions from other IOI participants too. If you're participating this year, I'd like to connect! Thanks for reading!
Blogger's Review: This article not only summarizes the training strategies for IOI gold but also sparks deep reflection on training methods. Balancing untimed and timed skills is essential for every competitor, especially when facing rivals of similar strength, where speed and accuracy become equally important. I hope more people will share their training experiences for mutual growth!