History Main / SlowAndSteadyWinsTheRace

* The Peruvian children's book "La Tortuga Alejandrina" (Alejandrina the Tortoise) is about a tortoise that's nervous of participating in the Olympics at her school because she fears to lose. However, her father tells her to be dilligent during the race. Once the competition takes place, the other animals competitors stop at a pond to swim and drink, as they underestimate Alejandrina's pace. Sure enough, Alejandrina ends up winning.

It's also worth mentioning that the original story has been subject to much AlternateAesopInterprnetation, the other aesop being "don't get too cocky".

* This trope is also what let Steven Bradbury claim Australia's first ever [[UsefulNotes/OlympicGames Winter Olympics]] gold medal. As the second-oldest competitor in the speed skating events [[DentedIron (and having more than his share of near-fatal encounters, including]] ''[[DentedIron breaking his neck]]'' [[DentedIron less than two years ago)]], he knew that directly challenging the other competitors would only end in failure, especially with four races on the same night. He also knew that the favourites to win would be under more pressure and take more risks as a consequence, increasing their chances of crashing. Thus, from the semi-finals onwards, Bradbury hung back, keeping his distance from the pack. Sure enough, it worked: during the semi-finals, three of the other skaters crashed (letting him take first and advance to the finals), and during the finals, ''all of the other skaters'' crashed out while jostling for gold during the final lap, letting Bradbury skate past them for the win.

We've all heard of Literature/AesopsFables. Although very little is known about the man himself, hundreds of his stories still survive after millenia. Arguably the best known of these stories is ''The Tortoise and the Hare''.

It's also worth mentioning that the original story has been subject to much AlternateAesopInterpretation, the other aesop being "don't get too cocky".

And while [[{{Jerkass}} Green]] waited \\

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** Played with in ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E7MayTheBestPetWin May The Best Pet Win!]]'', with a literal turtle[[note]][[RunningGag Tortoise!]][[/note]]: Rainbow Dash is holding a competitionbetween various animals to see which one is worthy of becoming his pet. Given that this is [[FastestThingAlive Rainbow Dash]], this incldes a race through a gorge. Rainbow Dash specifies that "whoever crosses the line with me" wins. As it so happens, an avalanche occurs, half-burying her. All animals speed past and fail to notice her, except the turtle[[note]][[RunningGag Tortoise!]][[/note]], which rescues her and carries the injured pony over the finish line, thus [[ExactWords winning the race]].

* Zigzagged in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Fall Weather Friends": the ponies are having a race called "The Running of the Leaves" to help the autumn leaves fall. Rainbow Dash and Applejack are mad at each other and are on a vicious cycle of cheating due to thinking the other cheated, so they end up being tied for ''last place''. Twilight starts off slow but then runs to prevent herself getting puffed out, and she wins a prize... but it's not first place either.

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* Other cultures have developed similar stories independently of Creator/{{Aesop}}. For example, the Native Americans told a tale about a crane and a hummingbird.

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* PlayedForHorror in ''Film/TheHunt2020'', in a moment where Crystal Creasy (the AntiHero and a ShellShockedVeteran) narrates a version of ''The Tortoise and the Hare'' in which, as usual, this method lets the tortoise win the race... and then, much to the surpise of [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame the fellow hunted]] she's talking to (who thought that she was telling him that's how they were going to play the game), she follows it with saying that the hare arrived that same night to the tortoise's home and [[SoreLoser got even]] [[DisproportionateRetribution by killing the tortoise and his entire family]]. [[BadOmenAnecdote The man is visibly nervous when Crystal finishes her tale]].
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* The trope is heavily associated with the Japanese warlord-turned-shogun UsefulNotes/TokugawaIeyasu. He has been around since the era of UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga but played the long game, making himself the sidekick or vassal to either Nobunaga or his direct successor UsefulNotes/ToyotomiHideyoshi, conceding several losses when he could've made big but temporary wins, making a slow but steady progress to amass power that when the two died (with their own big problems intact: Nobunaga made an enemy out of a majority of Japan with his brutality, Hideyoshi ended up being more attuned to his megalomania and invaded Korea once he's done unifying the land, with disastrous results), he's in the top position to claim Japan as his own. With a few strokes of luck, he eventually did so, creating two centuries of peace for the nation with his dynasty at the helm because he never really rushed in a bullheaded manner in the race to claim Japan.

* ''Literature/TheWitchOfKnightcharm'': This is [=LaTasha's=] strategy for surviving the lethal obstacle course that her evil WizardingSchool is making her race through. Witches who win their heats are given higher class ranks and get privileges like better food, but [=LaTasha=] doesn't care about that, so she plans to just let the frontrunners slug it out ahead of her while she slowly and steadily works her way through the course. That way she'll increase her chances of surviving the course, which is what she actually cares about.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocoyo}}'' episode "The Great Race", Pocoyo, Elly and Sleepy Bird participate in a race. The former two keep competing with each other during it and ultimately break their vehicles on accident by doing so. They then combine the parts of those vehicles so as to finish the race together, but when they get to the finish, it is revealed that the slow and steady Sleepy Bird has won.

* Deconstructed for a gag in "Bart the Mother": Marge takes the family to the Family Fun Center, where one of the activities they do is go-kart racing. Marge is going a steady, sensible pace, while out of fun, Lisa gives her a taunt. She replies back with the trope name word-for-word. All of the other racers, including Homer, Bart, and Milhouse, all lap her... ''twice''. Even though she's far behind, she tries to force herself to not be tempted to go faster:

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* The trope is heavily associated with the Japanese warlord-turned-shogun UsefulNotes/TokugawaIeyasu. He has been around since the era of UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga but played the long game, making himself the sidekick or vassal to either Nobunaga or his direct successor UsefulNotes/ToyotomiHideyoshi, conceding several losses when he could've made big but temporary wins, making a slow but steady progress to amass power that when the two died (with their own big problems intact: Nobunaga made an enemy to a majority of Japan with his brutality, Hideyoshi ended up being more attuned to his megalomania and invaded Korea once he's done unifying the land), he's in the top position to claim Japan for his own and with a few strikes of luck, he eventually did so, creating two decades of peace for the nation with his dynasty at helm because he never really rushed in a bullheaded manner in the race to claim Japan.