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CGMO, 2022

Geometry Difficulty 6.1 National Olympiad Prove it China

Let II be the incenter of a triangle ABCABC with AB>ACAB > AC, and let AMAM be the median. The line through II perpendicular to BCBC meets the line AMAM at point LL. Let JJ be the reflection of II with respect to AA. Prove that ∠ABJ=∠LBI\angle ABJ = \angle LBI.

Solution

Proof. We need the following lemma.
Lemma: In triangle ABC, let I be the incenter. The incircle ⊙I\odot I is tangent to sides BCBC, CACA, ABAB at points A1A_1, B1B_1, C1C_1, respectively. Let A1IA_1I intersect B1C1B_1C_1 at LL. Then, ALAL passes through the midpoint MM of BCBC.
Figure 1
Proof of lemma: Draw a line through LL parallel to BCBC, intersecting ACAC at XX and ABAB at YY. Connect IB1IB_1, IC1IC_1, IXIX, and IYIY.
Since A1L⊥BCA_1L \perp BC and XY∥BCXY \parallel BC, we know that A1L⊥XYA_1L \perp XY. Thus, ∠ILX=∠IB1X=90∘\angle ILX = \angle IB_1X = 90^\circ, and I,L,X,B1I, L, X, B_1 are concyclic. Similarly, I,L,C1,YI, L, C_1, Y are concyclic. Therefore, ∠IXB1=∠ILB1=∠IYC1\angle IXB_1 = \angle ILB_1 = \angle IYC_1.
Combining this with ∠IB1X=∠IC1Y=90∘\angle IB_1X = \angle IC_1Y = 90^\circ and IB1=IC1IB_1 = IC_1, we have △IB1X≅△IC1Y\triangle IB_1X \cong \triangle IC_1Y. Thus, IX=IYIX = IY.
Also, note that IL⊥XYIL \perp XY, so LL is the midpoint of XYXY. Combined with XY∥BCXY \parallel BC, we conclude that ALAL passes through the midpoint MM of BCBC. The lemma is proven.

Returning to the original problem, let the incircle ⊙I\odot I of triangle ABCABC be tangent to sides BCBC, CACA, ABAB at points A1A_1, B1B_1, C1C_1, respectively. By the lemma, LL is on segment B1C1B_1C_1. Let SS be the midpoint of BIBI, and let TT be a point on ASAS such that ∠TBS=∠BAS\angle TBS = \angle BAS.
Figure 2
We will now prove that points BB, TT, LL are collinear.

Since ∠TBS=∠BAS\angle TBS = \angle BAS, we know △BST∼△ASB\triangle BST \sim \triangle ASB. Thus, BS2=SA⋅STBS^2 = SA \cdot ST. Also, BS=SIBS = SI, so IS2=SA⋅STIS^2 = SA \cdot ST. This implies △IST∼△ASI\triangle IST \sim \triangle ASI, and therefore,
∠BTI=∠BTS+∠ITS=∠ABI+∠AIB=180∘−∠BAI. \angle BTI = \angle BTS + \angle ITS = \angle ABI + \angle AIB = 180^\circ - \angle BAI.
Let HH be the orthocenter of triangle AIBAIB. By the properties of the orthocenter, ∠BHI=∠BAI\angle BHI = \angle BAI. Thus, points BB, TT, II, HH are concyclic. Therefore, ∠STH=∠BTH−∠BTS=∠BIH−∠ABI=90∘\angle STH = \angle BTH - \angle BTS = \angle BIH - \angle ABI = 90^\circ, and combined with ∠AC1H=90∘\angle AC_1H = 90^\circ, we have points AA, C1C_1, TT, HH concyclic, with AHAH being the diameter of the circle.
Thus,
∠ITC1=∠HTC1−∠HTI=180∘−∠HAC1−∠HBI=180∘−(90∘−∠ABI)−(90∘−∠ABI−∠BAI)=2∠ABI+∠BAI. \begin{aligned} \angle ITC_1 &= \angle HTC_1 - \angle HTI = 180^\circ - \angle HAC_1 - \angle HBI \\ &= 180^\circ - (90^\circ - \angle ABI) - (90^\circ - \angle ABI - \angle BAI) \\ &= 2\angle ABI + \angle BAI. \end{aligned}
Moreover, note that
∠ILB1=∠IC1L+∠LIC1=12∠BAC+∠ABA1=∠BAI+2∠ABI. \angle ILB_1 = \angle IC_1L + \angle LIC_1 = \frac{1}{2}\angle BAC + \angle ABA_1 = \angle BAI + 2\angle ABI.
So ∠ITC1=∠ILB1\angle ITC_1 = \angle ILB_1, so II, TT, C1C_1, LL are concyclic. From this, we deduce ∠ITL=∠IC1L=∠BAI\angle ITL = \angle IC_1L = \angle BAI. Therefore, points BB, TT, LL are collinear, and ∠LBI=∠TBI=∠BAS\angle LBI = \angle TBI = \angle BAS.
Since ASAS is the median of triangle BIJBIJ, we have AS∥BJAS \parallel BJ, and ∠BAS=∠ABJ\angle BAS = \angle ABJ. Therefore, ∠ABJ=∠LBI\angle ABJ = \angle LBI. The conclusion is proven. □\square

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