Biasing selection contests with ex-ante identical agents

•We study contests where the designer wishes the winner to have high ability.•A head start should be given randomly when the contestants are ex-ante identical.•A head start should be given to the one who is more likely to have high ability.

This note shows that when the designer of a contest wishes the winner have high ability, she is better off giving a head start to one of the contestants even if they are ex-ante identical. If the contestants are ex-ante asymmetric, the designer should give a head start to the one who is more likely to have high ability.