Two Important Lemmas in Olympiad Geometry

Jeffrey Kwan

October 9, 2017

Introduction
In this article, I present the key lemmas for the legendary Iran TST 2009 problem 9,
which is famous enough to have an entire configuration named for it. I include the
midpoint of altitudes lemma and the right angle on incircle chord lemma, which are both
crucial to the Iran problem. There are also five practice problems at the end.

§1 Midpoint of Altitudes
The midpoint of altitudes configuration involves two key collinearities, described in the
following lemma.

Lemma 1.1 (Midpoint of Altitudes)

In triangle ABC with incenter I and A-excenter IA , let D and T be the incircle and
A-excircle tangency point with BC. If M is the midpoint of the A-altitude, then
M , I, T collinear and M , D, IA collinear.

Proof. The proof is not difficult, but it is slightly tricky. Here I will only prove M , I, T
collinear since the other one is analogous.
A

D′

M
I

D T
B C
A1

IA

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Jeffrey Kwan (October 9, 2017) 2 Incenter Perpendicularity Lemma

This first thing to note is that A, D0 , T collinear, where D0 is the antipode of D in the
incircle. Indeed, the homothety at A sending the incircle to the excircles maps D0 to T
since they are both “top points.”
Now consider the homothety at T sending A1 A to DD0 . Where does M go? Since it’s
the midpoint of AA1 , it is sent to the midpoint of DD0 , which is precisely I!

§2 Incenter Perpendicularity Lemma

This incenter perpendicularity is slightly trickier than the previous result.

Lemma 2.1 (Right Angle on Incircle Chord)

The incircle of 4ABC is tangent to BC, CA, AB at D, E, F respectively. Let M
and N be the midpoints of BC and AC. If K is the intersection of lines BI and
EF , then BK ⊥ KC. In addition, K lies on line M N .

Proof. The first part can be reduced to showing that pentagon CDIEK is cyclic. Luckily,
this is pretty simple. Since D and F are reflections across line BI, we have

∠KDC = 180◦ − ∠BDK = 180◦ − ∠BF K = ∠AF E = ∠AEF = ∠KEC,

which completes the proof.

A

E K

N
F
I

B D M C

For the second part, observe that M is the circumcenter of 4BKC. Thus ∠CM K =
2∠KBC = ∠B, so M K k AB. Since M N k AB, it follows that K lies on line M N .

§3 The Legendary Iran TST

Now we are finally ready to tackle the Iran TST problem. While the problem is quite
difficult without knowing such lemmas, the solution with them is actually quite short!

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Jeffrey Kwan (October 9, 2017) 4 Grand Finalé: TSTST 6

Example 3.1 (Iran TST 2009/9)

In triangle ABC, D, E and F are the points of tangency of incircle with the center
of I to BC, CA and AB respectively. Let M be the foot of the perpendicular from
D to EF , and let P be on DM such that DP = M P . If H is the orthocenter of
4BIC, prove that P H bisects EF .

Proof. Let B 0 , C 0 be the feet of the altitudes from B and C in triangle HBC, and let N
be the midpoint of EF .
H

B′
E

N
M
′
C
F
I

B D C

By lemma 2.1, we know that B 0 and C 0 lie on EF . Also, since H is the orthocenter of
4BIC, it is also the D-excenter in 4DB 0 C 0 .
The key is then that I is the orthocenter of 4HBC, so it is the incenter of 4DB 0 C 0 .
Thus N is the a tangency point of the incircle with B 0 C 0 . Then a direct application of
lemma 1.1 finishes the problem.

§4 Grand Finalé: TSTST 6

To conclude this article, I will present the inspiration for this handout and one of the
most difficult geometry problems that I have seen. This beautiful solution was found by
AoPS users anantmudgal09 and EulerMacaroni.

Example 4.1 (USA TSTST 2016/6)

Let ABC be a triangle with incenter I, and whose incircle is tangent to BC, CA,
AB at D, E, F , respectively. Let K be the foot of the altitude from D to EF .
Suppose that the circumcircle of 4AIB meets the incircle at two distinct points C1
and C2 , while the circumcircle of 4AIC meets the incircle at two distinct points B1
and B2 . Prove that the radical axis of the circumcircles of 4BB1 B2 and 4CC1 C2
passes through the midpoint M of DK.

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Jeffrey Kwan (October 9, 2017) 4 Grand Finalé: TSTST 6

Proof. First let’s do some labeling. Let X, Y , Z be the midpoints of EF , F D, DE, and
let the circumcircles of triangles BB1 B2 and CC1 C2 be ωB and ωC . Also, if H is the
orthocenter of 4BIC, let ωB intersect HB, AB, BC at R, R1 , R2 . Similarly, let ωC
intersect HC, AC, BC at S, S1 , S2 .

A
H

S1 S

B1 R C1
R1 E
X
K
F
I
Z
M
Y
B2
C2

B S2 D R2 C

Observe that X is the radical center of (AEF ), (DEF ), (AIB), (AIC), so X is in

fact the intersection of B1 B2 and C1 C2 . We can obtain similar results for Y and Z; thus,
XZ and XY are just B1 B2 and C1 C2 .
We must have B1 , B2 symmetric about line BI, so ωB is also symmetric about line
BI. So R1 and R2 are reflections across BI, so R1 R2 k DF . Similarly, S1 S2 k DE.
The key is the following claim.
Claim. R, R1 , S, S1 are collinear.

Proof. To prove this, we do some angle chasing. We know that ∠R2 R1 R = ∠R2 BR =
∠DF E and ∠S2 S1 S = ∠180◦ −∠S2 CS = 180◦ −∠DEF . Finally, we have ∠(R1 R2 , S1 S2 ) =
∠EDF from the parallel lines, so

∠R2 R1 R + 180◦ − ∠S2 S1 S + ∠(R1 R2 , S1 S2 ) = 180◦ .

Thus R1 R and S1 S must be the same line, so all of them are collinear.

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Jeffrey Kwan (October 9, 2017) 5 Problems

Notice that R1 RS1 S k EF and these lines are both antiparallel to BC, so B, C, R, S
are concyclic. Therefore by Radical center on (BCSR), ωB , ωC , we get that H lies on
the Radical axis of ωB and ωC . However, by example 3.1, H, X, M collinear, so M also
lies on the radical axis of ωB and ωC . This completes the proof.

§5 Problems
Problem 5.1 (Vietnam TST 2003/2). In triangle ABC, let O be the circumcenter and
I the incenter. Let H, K, L be the feet of the altitudes of triangle ABC from the vertices
A, B, C, respectively. Denote by A0 , B0 , C0 the midpoints of the altitudes AH, BK,
CL, respectively. The incircle of triangle ABC touches the sides BC, CA, AB at the
points D, E, F , respectively. Prove that the four lines A0 D, B0 E, C0 F , and OI are
concurrent.

Problem 5.2 (Romania TST 2007/2). Let ABC be a triangle, let E, F be the tangency
points of the incircle Γ(I) to the sides AC, respectively AB, and let M be the midpoint
of the side BC. Let N = AM ∩ EF , let γ(M ) be the circle of diameter BC, and let X, Y
be the other (than B, C) intersection points of BI, respectively CI, with γ. Prove that

NX AC
= .
NY AB
Problem 5.3 (USA TST 2015/1). Let ABC be a non-isosceles triangle with incenter
I whose incircle is tangent to BC, CA, AB at D, E, F , respectively. Denote by M
the midpoint of BC. Let Q be a point on the incircle such that ∠AQD = 90◦ . Let P
be the point inside the triangle on line AI for which M D = M P . Prove that either
∠P QE = 90◦ or ∠P QF = 90◦ .

Problem 5.4 (Shortlist 2002/G7). The incircle Ω of the acute-angled triangle ABC is
tangent to its side BC at a point K. Let AD be an altitude of triangle ABC, and let
M be the midpoint of the segment AD. If N is the common point of the circle Ω and
the line KM (distinct from K), then prove that the incircle Ω and the circumcircle of
triangle BCN are tangent to each other at the point N .

Problem 5.5 (Shortlist 2004/G7). For a given triangle ABC, let X be a variable point
on the line BC such that C lies between B and X and the incircles of the triangles
ABX and ACX intersect at two distinct points P and Q. Prove that the line P Q passes
through a point independent of X.

Problem 5.6 (Taiwan TST 2015). In a scalene triangle ABC with incenter I, the incircle
is tangent to sides CA and AB at points E and F . The tangents to the circumcircle of
triangle AEF at E and F meet at S. Lines EF and BC intersect at T . Prove that the
circle with diameter ST is orthogonal to the nine-point circle of triangle BIC.

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Jeffrey Kwan (October 9, 2017) 6 Hints

§6 Hints
Do not look at the hints until you are very stuck. Some contain very big spoilers.

5.1 Direct application of lemma 1.1. Homothety to finish.

5.2 You will need the lemma that N I ⊥ BC. Then apply lemma 2.1 and ratio lemma to
conclude.

5.3 Apply lemma 2.1 to show that P lies on DE. Then angle chase.

5.4 Let the tangent to the incircle at N intersect BC at T . Then it suffices to show that
T N 2 = T B · T C. Apply lemma 1.1.

5.5 Apply lemma 2.1 to 4ABX and 4ACX. Should be fairly straightforward from
here.

5.6 Requires decent knowledge of projective geometry. First show that it suffices to
show that S lies on the polar of T with respect to the nine-point circle of 4BIC. Use
lemma 2.1 to help you finish.

References
[1] Euclidean Geometry in Mathematical Olympiads by Evan Chen for some
relevant problems.

[2] Lemmas in Olympiad Geometry by Titu Andreescu, Sam Korsky, and Cosmin
Pohoata for some other relevant problems.

[3] AoPS users anantmudgal09 and EulerMacaroni for their proof of TSTST 6 at
http://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c6h1264730p8497943.