A Winning Strategy (A): Innovation in Olympic Speed Skating

This case describes two innovators in the Olympic sport of speed skating: the U.S. Men’s team, which devised a new approach to the team pursuit event following their disappointing performance in the 2018 Winter Olympics; and Nils van der Poel, a Swedish skater who responded to his own disappointing showing in 2018 with a new training plan that defied conventional wisdom. Both van der Poel and the U.S. Men’s Team saw promising initial results from their innovations. But they faced a decision: whether to reveal their new techniques. The U.S. Team’s strategy was easily imitated if competitors witnessed it in a race, but it was a risk not to test it in competition before the Olympics. If van der Poel shared his training plan, other athletes might use it to surpass him, but it also could enrich the sport as a whole. Should they share their techniques, and if so, when?