Learn English – Win by default: looking for an Alternative idiom

idioms

I'm looking for a word or an idiom expressing the fact that an agent (Athlete, Company, Country, etc.) suddenly ranks first, not because he performed better but because the former champion's performance slumped.

(Something other than winning by default/forfeit)

Here is the context:

Many think that soon enough the USA is going to produce more oil than Saudi Arabia. But others think that it's going to be because SA's production is going to decrease. It's like saying your country is going to bring renewable energies from 10% to 50% of the national energy mix. If you reduce overall energy consumption while keeping the same volume of renewables, then statistically you become a much more eco-friendly country.

See what I mean?

Best Answer

In sports, a team which achieves a victory by virtue of luck or of a supposedly superior opponent's failures is often said to have backed into (or in to) the win or the playoffs or the championship. The idiom is common enough to have been extended beyond sports:

Not even Bob Dole’s dismal 1996 candidacy generated less enthusiasm in GOP ranks than McCain’s 2008 effort. In winning the nomination when he’d been counted out after the disintegration of his campaign structure, he showed more fortitude than skill. He was blessed by weak competitors, who eliminated each other and left him the last man standing. ... [Recent polls] have prompted speculation by GOP political practitioners that McCain can back into the presidency, as he backed into the nomination. —‘Can McCain Back In To Another Win?’, Robert D. Novak, New York Post, July 28, 2008

[Other factors]can also have a substantial impact on the fortunes of a new small business. [...] Blind Luck -- The Small Business Hall of Fame contains more than a few stories of people who backed into success because of their incredibly good timing. —John L. Duoba, ‘Are You Ready to Be Your Own Boss?’, Small Business News, July 03, 2012

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