I had the same experience: no one knew of my mentors what "dynamic programming" was and our country-level competition (that had created problems inspired by IOI

I had the same experience: no one knew of my mentors what "dynamic programming" was and our country-level competition (that had created problems inspired by IOI) required dynamic programming for 2 out of 5 problems. And of course I failed the first time (2004). Then I learned what it was about and aced the next time (2005).