Just got out – my take on this morning's National Physics Olympiad prelim

So yeah, it's September 5, 2026, and I literally just walked out of the exam hall like four hours ago. Brain still buzzing. 9 to 12, three hours, 400 points – it's done.

Figured I'd dump my thoughts here while it's still fresh, partly to process it myself, partly for anyone else who took it or is curious.

The Scene

It was everywhere – same time across the whole country. I'm in Changsha, but I know friends in Anhui, Jiangsu, Shanxi all took it at the same moment. Shanxi apparently had 4000+ people alone. Crazy.

For us, it was pure theory today, 400 points max. Next up is the semifinal on September 19 – that one has lab stuff too, so way harder. But one step at a time.

The Paper Itself

Haven't seen official solutions yet, but from chatting with people afterwards and what some coaches were saying, here's the vibe:

1. It's not just about "can you solve this" – it's about "can you figure out what's even going on". Lots of problems felt like real-world scenarios you had to strip down to physics.

2. They really care about:

• Whether you actually understand the basics, not just memorized them
• Whether you can build a clean model out of a messy description
• Whether you can track multiple stages of a process without losing track (collisions, sliding, projectiles, etc.)

1. Some people said it felt like a warm-up for the semifinal – which makes sense, because that's in two weeks (Sep 19). Coaches are already saying: grind classic problems, fix your common blind spots.

My Two Cents

Honestly? If you're reading this and you also took it – give yourself a pat on the back. Three hours of that is no joke, no matter how it went.

I definitely hit a couple of walls. That's fine. What matters now is going back, seeing where I tripped, and figuring out if it was concept gaps or just sloppy writing.

If I make it to the next round, I'll start drilling seriously. Also need to double-check calculator rules – apparently the Casio fx-991CN CW is the go-to but you have to know what's allowed.

Anyway – good luck to everyone. Hope I see some of you on the semifinal list.

If you remember any problems from today, drop them below – let's compare scars.

On July 7, 2023, I participated in my first Codeforces contest — a Div. 3 round. I solved two problems, marking the beginning of my Codeforces journey.

On May 25, 2024, after countless ups and downs, I finally reached Specialist! Over those eight months, my performance fluctuated wildly. I had come as close as reaching 1396 Rating in February 2024 — just one step away from Specialist! But reality was unforgiving — I soon dropped back down. Nevertheless, I kept improving, even if at a slow pace.

After that, I kept bouncing between Specialist and Pupil. During this time, a major event occurred: I entered middle school, and the academic pressure intensified. However, that did not stop my passion for informatics. On October 19 and 20, 2024, I competed in two contests and delivered performances that even surprised myself — spanning three rating levels in just three contests. Just before CSP, I finally reached Expert!

But then came a devastating blow: I did poorly in CSP. Deeply frustrated, I left my school’s informatics competition team and haven’t returned since, shifting my focus to school subjects instead. In 2025, I joined the physics competition team — another big step for me.

On January 17, 2026, a beautiful weekend day, I looked at my computer, which had been lying dormant in the corner. Memories suddenly flooded back. Without hesitation, I turned it on, registered for that day’s Codeforces contest, and decided to give the Div. 2 round a try.

Surprisingly, even after a year, I had not lost my touch. Sitting in front of the computer, my dormant knowledge suddenly awakened: I solved five problems in one go!

After a year of silence, informatics competition had never faded from the depths of my mind — instead, it had quietly evolved.

Suddenly, I regained my confidence. I used my spare time to compete in contest after contest. Although I dropped back to Specialist again at one point, I adjusted my mindset, regrouped, fought through obstacles, and achieved Rating increases in six consecutive contests.

It seems that informatics competition truly is something deep in my soul.

For now, I’m still focusing on physics. But I treat informatics competition as a passion — not for awards, not for an AK at IOI, but simply for the joy it brings me, for the happiness when “Pretest Passed” lights up on the screen.

2090 Rating is not the endpoint — it’s just a starting point.