Sportsday

Someone was commenting on the recent allegations that cheating is going on in tennis - bribes to lose games! What would happen, he wondered, if both players in a singles match had been bribed to lose? Interesting.
Makes me think of my army days, National Service in the 1950's, and sportsday.
The finals of the competitions took place on Saturdays; the heats took place on the days before. If you won a heat you would be able (or have to) enter the final on the Saturday. Which would make it impossible for you to have a 48 hour pass to go home (away from the madness that was army life). So, in order that you did not qualify to enter the final you deliberately set out to lose your heat. This was not dificult because there were always young officers eager to succeed, eager to run in the finals.
But if all the entrants to a heat were ordinary private soldiers then things could prove difficult.
Imagine a race in which everyone is intent not on winning but on losing so that they could get the 48 hour pass.
However, I never actually saw that happen. As I say, there were always young, eager officers ready to stay over and win the finals on Saturday.
Not that we privates ever saw them win; we were, as they say, "home and dried".