In the 2020 summer Olympics' Javelin throw finals, Neeraj Chopra exhibited a spectacular performance to win the gold medal. The silver medal was won by Jakub Vadlejch and the bronze medal was won by Vitezlav Vesely. There were six rounds of throws with each athlete having one throw per round. The best of all the throws of each athlete is considered for the medal. Following were the observations about the throws:
(i) The first and second rounds were dominated by Neeraj Chopra with a gold medal performance in his second throw, while the other two athletes did not have any medal winning throws in these rounds.
(ii) The throws in the last round by both Jakub Vadlejch and Vitezlav Vesely were fouls and were not considered for scoring.
(iii) After four rounds, Vitezlav Vesely was in the second position and could not improve upon his best throw in the succeeding rounds.
(iv) In the fourth round, the throw by Jakub Vadlejch was the best in that round.
In which round did Vitezlav Vesely have his best throw?
Show Hint
First narrow VV's best throw down to round 3 or round 4 using the medal and foul clues, then use the round 4 comparison with Jakub Vadlejch to see which one is actually possible.
Step 1: Set up the picture round by round for VV.
There are six rounds and we need to find which single round holds Vitezlav Vesely's (VV) best throw, the one that decided his bronze medal. Go through each clue and mark rounds as possible or impossible for VV.
Step 2: Mark rounds 1 and 2 as impossible.
The passage tells us rounds 1 and 2 belonged entirely to Neeraj Chopra, with the other two athletes, including VV, having no medal winning throw there. So rounds 1 and 2 are out for VV.
Step 3: Mark round 6 as impossible.
VV's round 6 throw was a foul. A foul throw carries no distance and cannot be the throw that won him bronze. So round 6 is out.
Step 4: Mark round 5 as impossible using the no-improvement clue.
We are told that after round 4, VV could not beat his own best throw in the rounds that came after, which covers rounds 5 and 6. So whatever his best throw was, it was already achieved by the end of round 4. Round 5 is out.
Step 5: Now only rounds 3 and 4 remain, so test round 4 directly.
Suppose, just to check, that VV's best throw came in round 4. We are told Jakub Vadlejch (JV) had the single best throw of round 4 among all three athletes, so JV beat VV in round 4. If VV's best throw is exactly his round 4 throw, and JV's round 4 throw beats it, then JV's best throw so far, which is at least his round 4 throw, already beats VV's best throw so far. That would place JV above VV in the standings after four rounds.
Step 6: Compare with the given standing after four rounds.
We are told VV stood second after four rounds, ahead of JV. This directly clashes with what Step 5 just produced, so the assumption in Step 5 must be false. VV's best throw is therefore not in round 4.
Step 7: Settle on the remaining round.
With rounds 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 all ruled out, round 3 is the only one left for VV's best throw.
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