This is the 14132nd most frequent Russian word.
опережал
"Опережал" means "was ahead" or "surpassed."
Here, "опережал" is used in the context of a sports competition to describe someone surpassing others in performance or position.
На соревновании он опережал всех своих соперников.
In the competition, he was ahead of all his competitors.
In this sentence, "опережал" refers to something surpassing expectations or predictions in progress or speed.
Развитие технологий опережал все прогнозы.
The development of technologies exceeded all forecasts.
In this context, "опережал" signifies exceeding typical standards or norms for someone's age in terms of abilities or achievements.