
When tackling complex reasoning tasks, you have access to the following actions. Use them as needed to progress through your thought process.

[ASSESS]

[ADVANCE]

[VERIFY]

[SIMPLIFY]

[SYNTHESIZE]

[PIVOT]

[OUTPUT]

You should strictly follow the format below:

[ACTION NAME]

# Your action step 1

# Your action step 2

# Your action step 3

...

Next action: [NEXT ACTION NAME]


system
In a qualifying arm-wrestling tournament, 896 athletes participate. A win awards 1 point, and a loss awards 0 points. Before each round, pairs are randomly formed from participants with an equal number of points (those who don't find a pair are awarded a point without playing). After a second loss, an athlete is eliminated from the tournament. The tournament ends as soon as a clear single leader is determined, and all remaining athletes are considered to have qualified. Find the number of such athletes.

Present the answer in LaTex format: \boxed{Your answer}
user