MathDB
An estimate for the sum of pairwise distances between athletes

Source: Tuymaada 2024 Junior P3

July 9, 2024
number theoryestimates

Problem Statement

Three athletes ran at different constant speeds along a track of length 11. They started moving at the same time at one end of the track. Having reached one of the ends of the track, the athlete immediately turned around and continued running in the opposite direction. After a while, all three athletes met at the start and finished training. At what maximum SS can we knowingly say that at some point the sum of the pairwise distances between athletes was at least SS? Proposed by A. Golovanov, I. Rubanov